Zacron artist estate sale in Essex
The estate collection of artwork by the artist who created an iconic album cover for the rock band Led Zeppelin will go under the hammer in Essex in an online sale ending on January 12.
The enigmatic artist Richard Drew, better known as Zacron, held up the release of the world’s biggest band’s album Led Zeppelin III when he was tasked with creating the cover art in 1970.
His iconic conception drew on the pop-art, collage and kinetic themes which he explored during his training at the Royal College Schools. He arrived at a complex cover design featuring a pierced outer cover and inner volvelle (a rotating wheel) which produced an ever-changing kaleidoscope effect; literally, a revolutionary design, which is celebrated to this day and has drawn comparisons with the iconic cover for The Beatles’ seminal Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by Zacron’s fellow ‘pop-artist’ and his good friend Peter Blake.
The unconventional design was however highly complex for production and disruptive, setting back the album release date by two months. Ultimately the delay only served to fuel anticipation, with sales in the United States alone totalling 25 million copies.
Richard Drew/Zacron was born in Sutton in 1943. His artistic career was intrinsically connected to music and during his artistic training he met first Eric Clapton at Reynolds High School, Acton, and then Jimmy Page whilst at Kingston College of Art.
After winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Arts Schools, Zacron studied drawing from January 1965 to June 1967. During his following career which spanned five decades, he did a broad range of advertising and graphic work and made an analytical spiritual exploration of the visual arts, tackling a broad range of media and themes.
His work has featured in exhibitions around the world, his art has been collected by legends of the music world and is included in many significant collections. This Estate sale, which demonstrates Zacron’s extraordinary artistic talents, includes work in all mediums, limited edition prints, sketches and sculpture, much of which dates to the 1960s and 70s period with psychedelia and pop-art motifs to the fore.
The sale at Reeman Dansie, which comprises 130 lots with estimates ranging from £20-£1000, closes for bids on January 12 and is to be offered entirely without reserve.