ORIGINAL BOB HEYMAN SHEET FROM TATTOO LEGEND BERT GRIMM'S LONG BEACH SHOP

Description

Own an authentic piece of early American tattoo history with t
his original flash sheet by Bob Heyman from the renowned studio of the late, great BERT GRIMM. This beautiful sheet was given to world famous tattooist Jonathan Shaw by Bob Shaw in the early 90s, at the
legendary
Bert Grimm tattoo studio on the Long Beach Pike.
Bob Shaw, a contemporary of Sailor Jerry Collins, was one of the
greatest and
most prolific legends in modern tattoo history. Born in 1926, Shaw began his
long,
influential tattoo career as a teenager. Over the following decades, a
fter tattooing around military bases all over the South, he partnered up with his Uncle, the great Bert Grimm, where he and Grimm opened what is today the oldest existing tattoo studio in America.
BERT GRIMM'S clean, distinctive tattoo flash painting style served as an inspiration to generations of world-class tattooists. This piece with its vibrant colors and crisp line work is in pristine condition and looks as if it was painted yesterday -
despite being near half a century old
.
BERT GRIMM started hanging around tattoo shops in Portland Oregon when he was about 11 or 12 years old, and the shops of Sailor Gus, Sailor George and Charlie Western became his home away from home. Bert was given his first tattooing outfit in 1912 and for the next 70 plus years Bert Grimm was a fixture in the tattoo world. Early in his career, Grimm spent a season with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. Throughout the years he operated shops in Chicago, Honolulu, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Seattle, Los Angeles, Long Beach, St Louis, Portland and Seaside Oregon, and China.
Bert worked with some of the greats in the business, including, Domingo Gulang, Charlie Barr, Tatts Thomas, Red Gibbons, Walter Torun, Bob Shaw, and Col Todd, to name a few. Bert is probably best remembered today for the shop that he operated at the Nu Pike in Long Beach, CA from the 1950s to the late 60s. The Nu Pike was a large amusement park that goes back to 1897 and was home for dozens of tattooists. Bert Grimm's World Famous Tattoo was historic. It was one of the oldest continuously operating tattoo shops in the continental United States, where generations of sailors got tattooed before shipping out.
Bert was inducted into the Tattoo Hall of Fame, which was then located at the Lyle Tuttle's Tattoo Art Museum at #30 Seventh Street in San Francisco.
Bert retired in the small Oregon town of Seaside in the later years of his life. He was not able to stay away from the tattoo business so he set up a small tattoo shop in his home. In a letter written to Paul Rogers during this time Bert stated that he did about 10 tattoos a week out of his house.
Today the Pike is only a memory but the original Bert Grimm’s tattoo shop located at #22 Chestnut Place, which was in jeopardy of becoming part of a Long Beach condominium development, was purchased in March of 2004 by tattooist Kari Barba and two silent partners. Barba turned part of the shop into a museum and continues operating it as a tattoo shop.
Painted in the mid-1960s, this one-of-a-kind original flash sheet from the legendary studio of one of tattoo history's most important pioneers comes from the collection of respected tattoo artist, Jonathan Shaw. It is part of the renowned archives of classic tattoo artwork featured in Shaw's ongoing book series Vintage Tattoo Flash published on Powerhouse Books.
It measures 15" x 20" and comes with a hand-written Certificate of Authenticity from Shaw upon request.
Signed copies of Jonathan Shaw's VINTAGE TATTOO FLASH books can be ordered here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/254067720569
https://www.ebay.com/itm/254092585542
NOTE: Original antique tattoo flash sheets like the one shown here have been increasing in value at an extraordinary rate over the last decade. And with the growing interest in tattoo art in the mainstream art world, there is no end in sight - making this a very solid investment for the forward-thinking collector. Bottom line: there's only so much of this kind of priceless artwork in existence - and they ain't making no more! Soon enough they will all be unobtainable and sitting in museums.
This beautiful original vintage tattoo flash sheet is a one-of-a-kind example of classic American tattoo art.
Feel free to make an offer.
Read more about Bob Shaw and BERT GRIMM in an intimate interview with Jonathan Shaw found online.
Read more about the Jonathan Shaw Collection of Vintage Tattoo Flash online
All reasonable offers will be considered and promptly responded to. Thank you!