Artist David Edward Byrd, who created the iconic poster art for musicals like Follies, Godspell, Little Shop of Horrors, and Jesus Christ Superstar, passed away February 3 due to pneumonia. He was 83. The news was confirmed by his partner, Jolino Beserra, via Facebook.
Mr. Byrd was born April 4, 1941, in Cleveland, Tennessee. After graduating with a BFA and an MFA in painting from Carnegie-Mellon University in the mid-1960s, he moved to New York City to pursue life as an artist.
In 1968, Mr. Byrd was hired by rock promoter Bill Graham to create promotional posters for the Fillmore East Ballroom in Manhattan's East Village. Known as The Church of Rock and Roll, Fillmore East was one of the most influential rock and roll venues in New York, and Mr. Byrd quickly became one of the most recognizable poster artists in the industry, creating iconic designs to promote Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Iron Butterfly, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, The Grateful Dead, and more. In 1969, Mr. Byrd was called upon to design the poster for Woodstock, but his original design ended up unused due to the festival location changing while Mr. Byrd was out of town. Regardless, Mr. Byrd became a trusted collaborator for many of the artists who came through the East Village, and when Fillmore East was forced to close in 1971, Mr. Byrd remained in the rock scene for some time as an independent agent.
While primarily a poster artist, providing the art-deco inspired iconography for The Rolling Stones' 1969 American Tour, David Bowie's Carnegie Hall debut, and the Metropolitan Opera House designs for The Who's Tommy, he was also called upon to design a number of album covers, including Lou Reed's 1974 album Sally Can't Dance and the four solo records released by members of the band KISS. As Mr. Byrd refined his sense of color, depth, and fluidity, his style became easily recognizable, with saturated blues, deep oranges, and curving line work.
While working in the rock milieu, Mr. Byrd also provided a number of theatrical posters, many of which have gone on to become iconic.
"[Theatrical illustration is] very different from rock," Mr. Byrd told Playbill in 2023. "When you did a rock poster, it didn't matter what the subject was, you know, it could be ducks eating a lizard. If it was cool and psychedelic, it didn't matter. But with Broadway, you had to read the script. And it was about what's the story of this show? Or what does it evoke in you? I was just very lucky."
For the stage, Mr. Byrd designed posters for Little Shop of Horrors, The Robber Bridegroom, The Grand Tour, The Survival of St. Joan, Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, and more, but it is his design for Stephen Sondheim's Follies that has become legend. The now-iconic design features the bust of a follies chorine, hair flowing past her shoulders. The title of the show, adorned with stars, took the place of a signature showgirl headdress. The colors—oranges, yellows, blues, and purples—are deeply saturated and vibrant. But across her stone face there is a crack, hinting at the ruins of a bygone era. His design became the calling card of the production, blown up to a full story high on the Winter Garden Theatre before limited edition reprints from the Triton Gallery became some of the most hotly desired art by collectors and Sondheim aficionados alike.
Fame and favoritism don't always coincide, however. As Mr. Byrd told Playbill in 2023, the poster for the original Off-Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors at the WPA Theatre, which eschewed some of his normal psychedelic style, was his favorite.
In 1976, Mr. Byrd illustrated the first edition of Christopher Street Magazine, which is considered to be the first gay literary magazine. In 1981, Mr. Byrd moved to Los Angeles, creating posters for the Mark Taper Forum, The Ahmanson Theatre, The Doolittle Theatre, and The Pasadena Playhouse. From 1991 to 2002, he served as a senior illustrator at Warner Brothers, creating illustrations, backgrounds and style guides for the Looney Tunes and Hanna–Barbera characters. From 1984 to 1986, he was Art Director for the national gay news magazine The Advocate.
In 2023, Mr. Byrd shared the stories behind his art in his book Poster Child, The Psychedelic Art & Technicolor Life of David Edward Byrd. He is survived by Beserra, his partner of 40 years. Information on a public memorial is forthcoming.
