{"id":2617,"date":"2018-11-18T15:41:55","date_gmt":"2018-11-18T14:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klf.de\/home\/?page_id=2617"},"modified":"2025-07-13T18:45:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T16:45:39","slug":"athena-posters","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/klf.de\/home\/jimmy-cauty-solo-projects\/athena-posters\/","title":{"rendered":"Athena Posters (1976 – 1980)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Between the second half of the 70’s and the early 80’s Jimmy Cauty drew a couple of posters which were all printed and published by British art retailer Athena.<\/p>\n

J.R.R. Tolkien<\/h2>\n

Lord Of The Rings<\/h3>\n

Jimmy’s Lord Of The Rings<\/strong><\/em> poster is probably the most well known of them all, being one of Athena’s best-selling posters of that time. Due to its popularity it has been reprinted various times since its initial release and therefore regularly pops up on eBay. The reprints all feature a white border, though.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Lord Of The Rings” poster by Jimmy Cauty (1976)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A guy from Athena actually flew in a helicopter to my house to get the poster and gave me \u00a3500 and 12 per cent royalties, which I thought was an absolute fortune ‘cos I was on the dole. Apparently it was mostly student nurses who bought it.Jimmy Cauty, The Face, Apr 1991<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n

Over the years various artists have created a number of posters and artworks which were clearly influenced by Jimmy’s original work.<\/p>\n

The Walt Disney company used an illustration by Spanish artist Jos\u00e9 Maria Manrique for a story in which Donald Duck experiences a vivid LOTR-influenced daydream, and one can cleary tell Manrique’s cover is based on Jimmy\u2019s poster.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Das Amulett der Elfen” (The Elven Amulet) by Jos\u00e9 Maria Manrique<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A more vibrant remake was sold on Etsy<\/a> by American artist Rhett Whittington of which a larger version can be found on Rhett’s DeviantArt page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Lord Of The Rings” by Rhett Whittington<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The LOTR poster remake of Jimmy Cauty\u2019s famous poster was one of my favorite projects I\u2019ve done! […] There\u2019s something about that older art that has more of a whimsical, story-book, and fantasy feel to it that I absolutely love, and tried to capture with my own art. Rhett Whittington<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n

The poster has also inspired a couple of homages, like “Selvarin” by Argentinian artist C\u00e1ceres P. Mart\u00edn E. <\/span>which can be found on DeviantArt<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Selvarin” by C\u00e1ceres P. Mart\u00edn E. (2018)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And then there is a parody poster called The Habit<\/strong><\/em> which is also… “highly influenced” one might say. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“The Habit” poster (unknown artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Hobbit<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>
“The Hobbit” poster by Jimmy Cauty (1980)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jimmy’s second poster based on the books of J.R.R. Tolkien is drawn in a similar style yet much darker than Lord Of The Rings (and a lot more grim than you probably would expect from a children’s book). The Hobbit remains a hightly sought-after poster by both KLF and LOTR fans alike and is rarely sold anywhere.<\/p>\n

Stone Circles<\/h2>\n

Influenced by the works of English author and esotericist John Michell, The Stone Circles is a triptych on the theme of famous stonecircle sights in Southern England, including Stonehenge<\/strong><\/em>…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Stonehenge” poster by Jimmy Cauty (1978)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

… Glastonbury<\/strong><\/em>…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Glastonbury” poster by Jimmy Cauty (1978)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

… and Avebury<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Avebury” poster by Jimmy Cauty (1978)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Athena issued all three of them as greetings cards as well.<\/p>\n

Other Posters<\/h2>\n

The King Of Elfland’s Daughter<\/h3>\n

Painted in 1977 The King Of Elfland’s Daughter<\/strong><\/em> was featured as the cover artwork for the concept album by Bob Johnson and Pete Knight (of Steeleye Span) based on Lord Dunsany’s fantasy novel of the same name.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“The King Of Elfland’s Daughter” poster by Jimmy Cauty (1977)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While their paths did not cross again until 10 years later, the album also features the vocal talent of a certain PP Arnold…<\/p>\n

The Gift<\/h3>\n

Jimmy’s 1978 poster The Gift<\/strong><\/em> is a smorgasbord of different elements. A group of astronauts meet the inhabitants of a fantasy realm where UFOs roam the sky and a dragon rests by a river, all observed by a group of robed figures.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“The Gift” poster by Jimmy Cauty (1978)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The poster’s centerpiece slightly resembles the classic “The Wedding Of The King” artwork by the Brothers Hildebrandt who themselves have created some iconic illustrations for Tolkien’s work.<\/p>\n

Elgin Court Designs<\/h2>\n

The Three Witches (1975)<\/h3>\n

Even preceding the Lord Of The Rings poster, The Three Witches<\/strong><\/em> was released by Elgin Court Designs in 1975 after London publisher Gallery 5 refused to released Jimmy’ work, presumably being worried it looked too scary for greeting cards.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“The Three Witches” greeting card by Jimmy Cauty (1975)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elgin Court were later also interested in releasing the Lord Of The Rings<\/em><\/strong> poster but were unable to match Athena’s counter-offer.<\/p>\n\n\n

A Christmas Carol (1976)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another rarely seen card, published by Elgin Court in 1976.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
“A Christmas Carol” by Jimmy Cauty (1976)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collecting Magic Mushrooms (197?)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So far this one only ever showed up on an auction site in June 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
“Collecting Magic Mushrooms” by Jimmy Cauty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Between the second half of the 70’s and the early 80’s Jimmy Cauty drew a couple of posters which were all printed and published by British art retailer Athena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2618,"parent":2252,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[412,645,411,266,408,165,413,410,409,414],"class_list":["post-2617","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-avebury","tag-elgin-court","tag-glastonbury","tag-jimmy-cauty","tag-lord-of-the-rings","tag-poster","tag-stonehenge","tag-the-gift","tag-the-hobbit","tag-the-king-of-elflands-daughter"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJimmy Cauty's Athena Posters - KLF ONLINE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An overview of Jimmy Cauty's early posters published by Athena International, including the famous Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit paintings.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/klf.de\/home\/jimmy-cauty-solo-projects\/athena-posters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jimmy Cauty's Athena Posters - 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