NEW YORK.- Bonhams & Butterfields, the West Coast's leading fine arts auctioneers, will bring original works by artist and American counter culture revolutionary Robert Crumb to auction in May of 2007. The auction, to take place in Los Angeles simulcast in San Francisco, will be preceded by a New York City exhibit on February 23-26 at the historic Fuller Building on Madison Avenue -- timed to coincide with the International Fair of New Art at the Armory Show in Manhattan.

For more than 30 years, R. Crumb has entertained, often shocked and continually challenged the imaginations of art collectors and comic enthusiasts. His LSD-inspired experiences of the 1960s gave way to sober dialogues and biting indictments of American culture.

The eternal outsider, Crumb used his talent to force his viewers to tackle topics such as racism and sexism, sometimes turning the critical pen on himself. Crumb's list of iconic figures includes Mr. Natural, Angelfood McSpade, Flakey Foont, and most notably Fritz the cat, the hedonistic anthropomorphic version of Crumb's childhood pet.

Born in 1943, Crumb was the middle child of five. His father was a military professional who fought in the Pacific during World War II. Following the war, the Crumb family relocated often, moving from Pennsylvania to California with stops in Iowa and Delaware. Due to a difficult home life, Crumb and his siblings retreated into a fantasy world created by comics, television and the movies of the 1950s. These influences inspired his brother Charles to create his own hand-drawn comics, with Robert following suit.

Crumb drew for his own amusement for more than a decade before designing cards for American Greetings in Cleveland, Ohio. By the mid-1960s, he was ready for a change. On a whim, Crumb traveled west to San Francisco (then the epicenter of the American counter culture movement) and submitted work to a magazine called Yarrowstalks. His illustrations were well received and Crumb was asked to produce an entire comic book. Soon after, the first issue of Zap was born. Several issues of this publication are to be offered at auction this May at Bonhams & Butterfields, along with additional works by Crumb that have become highly collectible over the years.

Called the 'Father of the underground illustrated comic movement' by some and considered the 'Grandfather' of alternative comics by others, R. Crumb was influenced by American artists Edward Hopper and Reginald Marsh, French masters Daumier and Toulouse-Lautrec, and German Expressionists Otto Dix and George Grosz. Crumb's artistic influence has grown beyond the counter culture into the art world -- influencing American artist Philip Guston, among others.

The following lots will be featured in the May 22nd sale and exhibited at Bonhams New York:

Created for the San Francisco Comic Book Company, the sale includes a story entitled "Mr. Natural," from MR. NATURAL #2, October 1971, wherein Mr. Snoid, Crumb's alter ego from his subconscious id, makes a cameo appearance and Crumb has a field day with 1970s cults.

The sale includes Robert Crumb's story entitled "City of The Future," from Zap No. 0, published in 1967 by Don Donahue. This issue was numbered 0 because Robert's first wife Dana lost his original artwork and he was forced to give Xerox copies to his publisher for the first printing of the comic. The story shows Crumb's early interest in science fiction.

"Abstract Expressionist Ultra Super Modernistic Comics," a three-page story from The All New Zap Comix No. 1, 1967. In the summer of 1968 Crumb sold this comic on the streets of San Francisco's Haight Ashbury district to help the poet/publisher Charles Plymell recover his printings costs.

Artwork from this first issue is extremely rare and has only appeared for public sale a few times. Crumb has commented often on his experiences taking LSD during the 1960s and this story is one of his first experiments using very few word balloons, progressive abstract panel designs, and images from his dreams. This story also reveals the strong influence of fellow artist Rick Griffin who created many early stories using only pictures and abstract word symbols.

Sure to attract interest is Robert Crumb's original artwork for a centerfold entitled "Kitchen Kut-Outs," from The All New Zap Comix No. 1, 1967. The spread ran in the first issue of Zap Comix and quickly became one of Crumb's most famous works from his early period. This feature had a life of its own outside its appearance in ZAP and became a classic image from the counter-culture of the 1960s. Many people cut out these figures, colored them, and stuck them on their refrigerators. This artwork also shows Crumb's interest in using common everyday objects along with organic-looking 1930's comic characters to cover 100% of every page. Not unlike the impulses of the Pop artists of the 1950s and 1960s who insisted on using common everyday images for their subject matter, Crumb used kitchen utensils to further his humor within the pages of the comic book.

Other highlights from the Robert Crumb section of the May sale include an ink drawing entitled "Oggie the Frog" from an early sketchbook drawing, circa 1964-65; an inside cover entitled "This Cartooning Business is Tricky Business," from SNOID COMICS, December 1979; an anti-war-themed cover of THE PEOPLES COMICS, Golden Gate Publishing, 1972; a pen and ink story entitled "Karnal Komix presents What A World! Starring Two Cats and a Bird, Part Two" from FUNNY ANIMALS, Apex Novelties, 1972; and a pen and ink with brush centerfold entitled "Chuck and Bob".

Estimates are available upon request for all works by R. Crumb.

The New York preview will also host additional highlights from the spring Modern and Contemporary art sales. These auctions will feature artists such as John Baldessari, Adolph Gottlieb, Bernard Buffet, Patrick Heron, Andy Warhol, Kenneth Noland, Martial Raysse, Victor Vasarely, Bruce Nauman, Roland Petersen, Gustave Loiseau and Maria-Helena Vieira da Silva.

The illustrated auction catalogs will be available online at www.bonhams.com/us in the weeks preceding the sales. California previews are set for May 18-20 in Los Angeles and May 11-13 in San Francisco, following the highlight exhibition February 23-26 at Bonhams New York.