Quicksilver - Art Nouveau Flowers - 1966

FD-36 is one of the earliest posters designed by Victor Moscoso. It displays a restrained use of color that would become atypical of Moscoso’s work. A nicely drawn floral design straight out of the Art Nouveau handbook surrounds the band names and incorporates the Family Dog logo. Reportedly, the inspiration for the design came from a seed package.

Victor Moscoso was born in Spain and was raised in Brooklyn, NY. He was the first of the San Francisco School of poster artists in the 1960s era with formal academic training and experience. After studying art at Cooper Union and Yale, he moved to San Francisco in 1959. He attended the San Francisco Art Institute where he later became an instructor.

Hesitant at first to jump on the San Francisco School bandwagon, Moscoso designed his first Avalon poster in June 1966, but this one, in late November, was only the third poster he created. Soon though he would become the first of the San Francisco poster artists to create his own branded creations, the Neon Rose series, which he launched about a month after this piece.

Quicksilver Messenger Service was soon to sign a record deal with Capital Records - one of the last of the main psychedelic bands to sign with a major label. Despite no real hits, the band built a huge fan base by touring constantly, mostly up and down the West Coast.  Music historian Colin Larkin wrote: "Of all the bands that came out of the San Francisco area during the late '60s, Quicksilver typified most the style, attitude and sound of that era."