Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ Paintings Are for Sale
Original Gerald Scarfe paintings created for the 1982 film adaptation of Pink Floyd‘s The Wall will go on sale through the San Francisco Art Exchange. A major exhibit featuring the paintings will also open at the SFAE’s gallery in July.
Scarfe selected the 11 pieces, which include some of the most iconic images from The Wall, such as The Scream (used during a battlefield sequence and on the movie poster), Giant Judge and Hammers, The Teacher, The Mother and Education For What? The exhibit will also feature an illustration tied to “Comfortably Numb,” Scarfe’s take on Pink Floyd‘s famous inflatable pig and an original storyboard for The Wall, which comprises 50 sketches. The full catalog is available to peruse on the SFAE website.
Scarfe famously began crafting the visual world of The Wall before Pink Floyd began recording the album. Working at the request of bassist Roger Waters, Scarfe designed several inflatable puppets and cartoons that were used during The Wall live show – though Pink Floyd only played four cities worldwide and no video of the concerts was shot. Scarfe’s animation, however, survived to appear in the movie.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Scarfe recalled hearing Waters’ demos for The Wall for the first time. “When he’d finished and he turned the tape off, it was kind of like an awkward silence,” Scarfe said. “Because anything one would say was inadequate. And I said, ‘That’s great.’ And there was another awkward silence, and Roger says, ‘Well, I just feel as though I’ve pulled my pants down and shit in front of you.'”