10 Album Covers That Belong in a Gallery
Over the last 60 years, some of the most recognizable artwork of its era never reached a gallery wall. It went out on cardboard sleeves and sold in record shops.
The New Abnormal, 2020
The Strokes, cover by Jean-Michel Basquiat
The cover uses Basquiat's 1981 painting Bird on Money, his tribute to the jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker. The band picked it decades after Basquiat's death.
The Velvet Underground & Nico, 1967
The Velvet Underground, cover by Andy Warhol
Warhol's banana came with a peel-off sticker. Underneath the yellow skin was a pink banana.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967
The Beatles, cover by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth
The Beatles hired the married artist duo to build the crowd-scene collage. Haworth co-designed it, though her name often drops out of the retelling.
Face Dances, 1981
The Who, cover including David Hockney
Peter Blake asked several of Britain's leading painters, Hockney among them, to each paint one member of the band. One panel per artist.
Without You, 1983
David Bowie, cover by Keith Haring
For this Let's Dance single, Haring drew two figures locked in an embrace.
Pinkerton, 1996
Weezer, cover by Utagawa Hiroshige
Rivers Cuomo chose Night Snow at Kambara, print number 16 in Hiroshige's Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō series, after seeing it on a postcard. He said it caught the winter loneliness he felt at the time.
Daydream Nation, 1988
Sonic Youth, cover by Gerhard Richter
The cover is a tight crop of Richter's 1983 painting Kerze (Candle), found by the band in an art book. The painting later sold at auction for 16.6 million dollars in 2011.
Think Tank, 2003
Blur, cover by Banksy
The cover was one of Banksy's earliest paid commissions, from years before he became known for turning that kind of work down.
ARTPOP, 2013
Lady Gaga, cover by Jeff Koons
Koons sculpted a nude figure of Gaga holding a blue gazing ball, set against fragments of Botticelli's Birth of Venus.
Flower Boy, 2017
Tyler, the Creator, cover by Eric White
Tyler set the bee theme and the color palette. White painted the scene.
Which one would you actually hang on your wall?
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Image credits:
The New Abnormal, Bird on Money, 1981, Jean-Michel Basquiat.
The Velvet Underground & Nico, Andy Warhol.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Museum of Modern Art, Committee on Architecture and Design Funds.
Face Dances, David Hockney.
Without You, Keith Haring Foundation.
Pinkerton, Utagawa Hiroshige.
Lonesome Echo, Salvador Dalí.
Daydream Nation, Gerhard Richter.
Think Tank, Banksy.
ARTPOP, Jeff Koons.
Flower Boy, Eric White.
