This unique piece of original artwork by renowned designer Spencer Zahn has been offered for auction by Gary Brooker, the sale proceeds to go to the BJ Wilson Memorial Fund, and to continue the running of 'Beyond the Pale', the Procol Harum website.
The dimensions of the picture, measured by Gary himself, are 747 x 743 mm. The artwork has been executed in charcoal on Rives BFK Elephant double weight paper. It has been fixed to prevent smudging.
In a sense this is the classic Procol fine-art picture ... not only does it illustrate a prime song, but the covert pun in the title of (H)A Rum Tale presents the wit of Keith Reid at its most subtle.
We took two photographs of this Grand Hotel artwork: the first was taken out of doors at the Brooker residence on 26 October 2004 (see illustration); the second was taken indoors in Bristol on 8 November, with the addition of items to show the scale of the pictures: a yardstick and an apple.
The first picture rather over-emphasises the slightly yellow tinge of the art paper; the second has a blue tinge reflected from the cloth the pictures are propped against.
This illustration shows the photo set-up: Franky Brooker is ready with the A Rum Tale picture.
The camera is gaffer-taped to Gary's boom mic-stand; the photographer is stabilised by an assistant grabbing his belt.
