Nov. 19 Paris Auction of 1986 Artrain Graffiti Train Artworks

An eyewitness account of the painting of

The Eyes of the Tiger by Duster

on the 1986 Artrain graffiti train

By Daniel O’Leary

Artrain, Executive Director, 1986-1989

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA - For the first two days we had all 13 artists working at the same time on four railroad cars. Four artists had one side of an entire car. These were Lee Quinones, Dondi White, Bill Blast and Suzan Pitt. Those four stayed on for the third and fourth days.

Three teams had two artists painting on the side of a car. These were Phaze 2 and Delta, Duster and Zephyr and Vulcan and Koor. One car side was painted by three artists: Futura, Kel and Mare.

One of the cars that went particularly well was painted by the team of Duster and Zephyr. After the two artists completed the left and right portions of the car. Zephyr asked Duster if he wanted to paint the tiger head that was to be the centerpiece. Duster responded by bringing off an amazing and remarkable image. Because a portion of tiger’s head happened to fall on a metal window cover we were able to salvage the piece before the entire train was repainted several years later. The train had toured through dozens of cities across much of the country.

I remember how lucky I felt to be able save an original piece [Eyes of the Tiger] of the only graffiti train that was commissioned to tour the United States.* 

*Eyes of the Tiger, conceptualized by Zephyr and painted on the Artrain Graffiti train by Duster, has been in the personal collection of Artrain trustee Jacque Passino since it was removed from the train. Mr. Passino has gifted it back to Artrain for this auction intending that the proceeds of the sale support the nonprofit organization.