Arnold Skolnick
Biography
Arnold Skolnick (February 25, 1937, Brooklyn, NY – June 15, 2022, Amherst, MA) was an American graphic designer, painter, and art-book publisher. In 1969, as a working New York commercial designer, he was tapped on short notice to produce a replacement poster for the Woodstock festival — by his recollection called on a Thursday and delivering Monday morning. The bird perched on the guitar neck was, by his own account, not a dove but a catbird, modeled on birds he had been sketching on Shelter Island. He later built a substantial second career as a fine artist and publisher of illustrated art books.
Why They Matter
Skolnick authored one of the most reproduced graphic images of the 20th century, almost incidentally and for little pay. His was not the festival's first poster — the original was David Byrd's "Aquarian" design for the Wallkill site; when the event moved to Bethel, the job fell to Skolnick. The significance lies in the contrast between the image's ubiquity and its humble origin — and that the counterculture's "peace dove" is, per its designer, a catbird.
Notable Works
- The 1969 Woodstock poster — catbird on a guitar neck, "3 Days of Peace & Music" (his single best-known work)
- founder of the art-book imprints Imago Imprint and Chameleon Books
- illustrated titles with Rizzoli, Chronicle, and Clarkson Potter