On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
"The Fool" SG
Gibson American
The Fool Collective
Eric Clapton British
Not on view
In 1967, Cream’s manager Robert Stigwood commissioned Dutch artists Marijke Koger and Simon Posthuma to create a custom-painted set of psychedelic instruments, costumes, and posters for the band’s upcoming U.S. tour. This guitar became known as “the Fool” after the art collective that Koger and Posthuma later founded. Eric Clapton received the guitar from George Harrison before it was painted and went on to use it as one of his main instruments with Cream, playing it while recording Disraeli Gears (1967), Wheels of Fire (1968), and Goodbye (1969). “The Fool” was restored after 1972 by former owner Todd Rundgren.
Technical Description:
Mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard; 24¾ in. scale; rainbow psychedelic designs covering front and back of body, neck, and headstock; set neck with pearloid trapezoid inlays and white binding; headstock painted over; two humbucking pickups, three-way selector switch, two volume and two tone controls; nickel tune-o-matic bridge and Grover Rotomatic tuners, two gold and two black plastic knobs, three-ply black and white pickguard with landscape painting; neck and headstock reconstructed
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