London's Victoria and Albert Museum announced Tuesday that it has purchased the original artwork for The Rolling Stones' iconic "lips" logo at auction in the United States for $92,500.
Arguably the most famous rock music logo, the lips-and-tongue logo was designed in 1970 by London art student John Pasche and was first used on the cover of the band's "Sticky Fingers" album released in 1971.
Guardian Newspaper of the UK reports that Pasche was a 24-year-old design student at London's Royal College of Art when Mick Jagger came looking for new artwork talent because Jagger was unhappy with the Rolling Stones' record company artists. After meeting with Jagger, Pasche designed a tour poster and was commissioned to design a band logo.
Pasche said the lips-and-tongue design came about rather naturally. "Mick had a picture of Kali, the Hindu goddess, which he was very keen on. India was very much in fashion at the time, but I thought something like that might go out of date."
"I wanted something anti-authority, but I suppose the mouth idea came from when I met Jagger for the first time at the Stones' offices." Pasche continues, "I went into this sort of wood-paneled boardroom and there he was. Face to face with him, the first thing you were aware of was the size of his lips and his mouth."
The Guardian reports Pasche was originally paid L50 for the design. Then, when the Rolling Stones copyrighted the design, Pasche received a share of royalty rights, which he later sold for a lump sum.
The $92,500 purchase price paid by Victoria and Albert Museum for the "lips" original artwork seems to be a relative bargain, considering the notoriety and continued viability of the logo. The "lips" are rock music history.
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