Korean War Vet Ken Babbs, Captain of Ken Kesey's "Trips Festival" bus, co piloting Neal Cassady on Amphetamine at wheel rolling up highway to Millbrook estate near Poughkeepsie N.Y. where Dr. Tim O'Leary's Castalia Foundation was then experimenting with D.M.T. on half hour psychedelic trip useful for psychiatric sessions. Burglar Gordon Liddy, then assistant D.A. in Poughkeepsie raided the Foundation a number of times illegally lacking search warrants during that season, so Castalia folk were jittery on arrival of honking Day-Glo graffit'd "Merry Prankster" Further bus which'd been driven cross-country S.F to N.Y. via Texas before Fall 1964 Presidentiad, "A Vote for Goldwater is a Vote for Fun" logo painted above bus side windows, L.S.D. Kool-Aid in pitcher in icebox. Kesey & Pranksters had met with Jack Kerouac a day before . . .

1964, printed 1995

Allen Ginsberg

Associated Names
Allen Ginsberg

Artist, American, 1926 - 1997

Two men are seated in the front of a vehicle. One man on the left is slightly out of focus and appears relaxed, with short, dark hair, a white shirt, and a jacket. The other man on the right wears dark sunglasses and headphones over short hair, focusing on potential driving. He wears a striped shirt with a dark collar. The background shows a blur of trees and a highway, suggesting motion, with the vehicle's exterior visible through the window. Handwritten text at the bottom of the image does not seem to relate to any visible objects held by the men.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Gary S. Davis

  • Dimensions

    image: 29.2 × 40.1 cm (11 1/2 × 15 13/16 in.)
    sheet: 40.5 × 50.6 cm (15 15/16 × 19 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2011.146.40

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Allen Ginsberg Estate; Gary and Ellen Davis, Greenwich, CT; gift to NGA, 2011.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

signed and captioned by artist, across bottom in black ink: Korean War Vet Ken Babbs, Captain of Ken Kesey's "Trips Festival" bus, co piloting Neal Cassady on / Amphetamine at wheel rolling up highway to Millbrook estate near Poughkipsie N.Y. where Dr. Tim O'Leary's / Castalia Foundation was then experimenting with D.M.T. on half hour psychedelic trip useful for / psychiatric sessions. Burgler Gordon Liddy, then assistant D.A. in Poughkipsie raided the Foundation a num- / ber of times illegally lacking search warrants during that season, so Castalia folk were jittery on arrival / of honking Day-glo graffit'd "Merry Prankster" [underline] Further bus which'd been driven Crosscountry / S.F. to N.Y. via Texas before Fall 1964 Presidentiad, "A Vote For Goldwater is a vote for Fun" / logo painted above bus side windows, L.S.D. Kool-aid in pitcher in icebox. Kesey & Pranksters'd met with / Jack Kerouac a day before, & set out to visit hero Leary first time, I went along, late summer 1964. / Allen Ginsberg; artist's stamp across center in black ink: Photograph By / Allen Ginsberg / COPYRIGHT 1994 NYC / ALL RIGHTS RESERVED / Fax 212-675-1686; by unknown hand, bottom center in graphite: GD-AG-73 PF 46103H; bottom right diagonal in graphite: AG signed 10/25/95 / 67/1496 / 1964-New York / 1/2 SR 10/95; bottom right in graphite: GDC-996

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