Bob Masse 2005 poster - Pink Floyd, The Marquee, London, 15 March 1966
Music posters: Alice - Avalon Ballroom 1968 | Big O 1967-70 | Bob Dylan - Don't Look Back 1969 | Bob Masse | Free | Joe Gomez Avalon Ballroom 1967 | Lee Conklin | Martin Sharp Donovan 1967 | Martin Sharp Jimi Hendrix | Martin Sharp Roundhouse UFO 1967 | MO Collection | Nigel Mentzel Psychedelic Posters | Oo Oo Ah Ah Oo Ah Ah Dance 1979 | Psychedelic and counterculture posters in situ 1967-71 | Splash Posters, London, 1960s - 1970s | Toby Zoates | Vamps | Victor Moscoso | Yardbirds |
Original v. after-the-event
During September 2025 the writer was shown a poster relating to a Pink Floyd concert held in London during 1966 (illustrated below). It was in the Art Nouveau style. As a collector of original 1960s rock art posters and ephemera, the writer wondered whether the item in question was original or a later work of art? Due to the small size of the digital image, the inscription at the bottom right of the poster could not be read. This article investigates that.
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Copyright 2005 Bob Masse Studios. |
Bob Masse (born 5 April 1945) is a Canadian artist who has worked in the United States and Canada since the mid' 1960s, specialising in Art Nouveau rock art posters (Erlewine 2009, Wikipedia 2025). As of September 2025 he remains a practicing, commercial artist, still operating in the rock music field and beyond, under the umbrella of the Bob Masse Studios. Numerous websites refer to his work, and it is readily available through online stores and auction houses, including eBay, Amazon and Heritage Auctions.
Masse's work often post-dates the events represented or commemorated and can therefore be confused with original posters promoting upcoming events. In the case of the Pink Floyd poster seen above, this is one such case. According to a user comment in a Reddit entry for the poster, it is stated that it is not an original event poster as such, but a 2005 work by Masse (Pockaleelee 2018). Upon obtaining a higher resolution copy of the poster, the following text was observed in the lower right corner, confirming this date of production:
Pink Floyd / March 15 66 / Marquee, 90 Wardour St. London W1 / 7.30 - 11.00 / c2005 Bob Masse Studios / c2005 Pink Floyd (1987) Ltd. Under license to Perryscope Productions LLC.
Bob Masse's art can be problematic when he produces after-the-event posters for famous rock concerts that purchasers come to believe are original posters for those concerts. The above Pink Floyd poster is a perfect example, as in many sales points the present writer has seen the date of production of the poster is not given up front. Whilst the posters are very attractive, they are not original - apart from being originals by the artist - and are therefore deceptive for those fans of the bands, of the period, and collectors of original rock poster art. Since the 1990s it appears that the majority of Masse's posters have been dated, as above with the Pink Floyd poster. For example, during 1968 he actually produced an original poster featuring a concert by the British rock band the Yardbirds. In 1999 he reprinted this. In the latter instance the dates of the original and the reprint were included. This is the ideal situation.
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Bob Masse, 1968, reprinted 1999. |
On the Bob Masse website there is a listing of poster projects completed between 1966 and 2022, including a second Pink Floyd poster recording a 1960s concert. I is described as follows within the poster:
Pink Floyd / January 5 1967 / the Marquee, 90 Wardour St. London W1 / Designed by Bob Masse Studios / copyright 2021 Pink Floyd (1987) Ltd. Under license to Perryscope Productions LLC. / Printed in Canada.
The difference between original event posters and after-the-event posters, along with those actually by Bob Masse or by the Bob Masse Studios, can therefore prove somewhat confusing when offered for sale.
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References
Erlewine, Michael, Biography of artist Bob Masse, Spirit Grooves Dharma Grooves, 19 December 2009.
Pockaleelee, Pink Floyd signed poster (Bob Masse) that I added to the collection, Reddit, r/pinkfloyd, 2018.
Wikipedia, Bob Masse, Wikipedia, accessed 25 September 2025.
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Music posters: Alice - Avalon Ballroom 1968 | Big O 1967-70 | Bob Dylan - Don't Look Back 1969 | Bob Masse | Free | Joe Gomez Avalon Ballroom 1967 | Lee Conklin | Martin Sharp Donovan 1967 | Martin Sharp Jimi Hendrix | Martin Sharp Roundhouse UFO 1967 | MO Collection | Nigel Mentzel Psychedelic Posters | Oo Oo Ah Ah Oo Ah Ah Dance 1979 | Psychedelic and counterculture posters in situ 1967-71 | Splash Posters, London, 1960s - 1970s | Toby Zoates | Vamps | Victor Moscoso | Yardbirds |
Music: Alison MacCallum - Superman | Bee Gees, Wollongong 1963-66 | Blue Fender Bronco 1968 | Bob Dylan | | Cold Chisel @ Gong 1976+ | Cream Gibson SG | Expression 1981-85 | Finch, Bulli, 2020 | Free | Fuzz Tone | Garbage | Gun - Race with the Devil 1968 | Jackson C. Frank | Jeff Buckley | Jimi Hendrix Flying V | Jimmy Page Dragon Telecaster | Jo Ann Kelly | Kahvas Jute & Chariot 1970-2005 | Kate Bush | Led Zeppelin bootlegs | Leftards - Gong punk 2017+ | Little Richard, Wollongong 1957 | LPs / CDs | MC5 | Nick Drake | Peter Green | Rory Gallagher | Shocking Blue | Vamps 1965-77 | Yardbirds |
Last updated: 25 September 2025
Michael Organ, Australia
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