Proof sheet for "Night of the Purple Moon" album art: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A screen-printed proof sheet for the record album cover artwork “Night of the Purple Moon” by The Sun Ra Arkestra. The sheet is printed with purple ink on white paper. The center design has a portrait of Sun Ra arranged in the sky above an Egyptian pyramid and the Great Sphinx. Text at the top reads [“THE NIGHT OF THE PURPLE MOON”] and [Sun Ra / AND HIS INTERGALACTIC INFINITY ARKESTRA]. Directly beneath the image, in small print, is [IR522]. There are no markings on the reverse of the sheet.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1970
• Published by: El Saturn Records, American, founded 1957
• Subject of: Sun Ra, American, 1914 - 1993
• Created by: The Sun Ra Arkestra, American
• Type: proofs: prints
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W: 17 1/2 × 22 5/8 in. (44.5 × 57.4 cm)
• Place printed: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Music
• Object number: 2023.83.8
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © El Saturn Records Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.