“The Australian tour poster is very famous and well known in Australia and internationally, but the tour poster of New Zealand is much less known but extremely valuable on the international market,” Vukovic says. “The poster I have was signed by Mick Jagger – the signature is from 1973, and is different to the signature of the 2000 period. Even Bill Wyman wanted the poster to put in his restaurant in England.”
Vukovic’s interest in music posters came about almost inadvertently. In the late 1970s Vukovic had acquired a large and valuable collection of postcards from a shop in Amsterdam. A number of years later, after selling his postcard collection to pay off some debts, Vukovic caught sight of a rock’n’roll poster underneath a Melbourne railway bridge. As a professional valuer, Vukovic saw financial potential in this oft-neglected art form. “I found the source, who the printer was, and told him that if he wanted to donate some of his posters under a tax incentive scheme, I could do a deal for him,” Vukovic says.
After completing this initial transaction Vukovic was hooked on collecting rock’n’roll posters, gradually accumulating the 4000-odd strong collection over which he now presides. “Even today, I’m 72 and I’m still buying – even this morning a big parcel came from Sydney,” Vukovic laughs. While he’s aware of the significance and financial value of his collection, Vukovic’s principle interest is artistic. “I am very interested in design, and I’m approaching my subject from a colour point of view – I don’t judge the posters because of the bands that are featured,” Vukovic says.
The chronology of Vukovic’s collection coincides with the emergence of rock’n’roll in Australia, with posters featuring the artists brought to Australia by Lee Gordon almost 60 years ago. The collection also provides a journey through the artistic development of the rock’n’roll poster. Vukovic’s collection led him a few years ago to collaborate with his friend Murray Walding on a book, Plastered: The Poster Art of Rock’n’Roll, which featured a wide range of posters from his collection. Vukovic was also a major source of posters for Michael Gudinski’s Every Poster Tells A Story: 30 Years of Frontier Touring Company.
In addition to Ian McCausland, Vukovic cites Phil Pinder and Graeme Webber amongst his favourite poster artists. “Graeme Webber did the famous poster of Angus Young in the toilets with a joint in one hand, and the other hand holding a can of Coca-Cola,” Vukovic says. “A friend of mine told me the other day, that poster has been printed in Russia in the thousands.” While Vukovic retains special affection for the rock’n’roll posters of the 1970s – many of which have been re-printed with the original artist’s permission – he also recognises the artistic merit of later designs. “I have a four sheet – 1.5 metres by two metres – featuring Archie Roach. It’s so beautiful, so Aboriginal rock’n’roll. Incredible.”
This week The Old Bar in Fitzroy will host a select exhibition of Vukovic’s posters. The exhibition stems from Vukovic’s desire to continue to involve his two daughters, one of whom contributed the introduction to Plastered and who sifted through Vukovic’s posters to find a selection that would be appropriate for a local audience. “Milli has chosen the posters because of both their artistic value, and also the period, which is 1970s and 1980s,” Vukovic says. “There are also some posters for sale – Johnny Cash, Meanies, Hard-Ons. They are very interesting, with great colours.”
BY PATRICK EMERY
