The Cover Uncovered: The psychedelic story behind Santana’s ‘Abraxas’
“We stood before it and began to freeze inside from the exertion. We questioned the painting, berated it, made love to it, prayed to it.” This quote, taken from the 1919 book Demian, adorns the back cover of Abraxas. The second studio album released by Latin rock gurus Santana, Abraxas certainly lives up to the quote that gave it its title.
Led by Carlos Santana, the band’s only constant member, Santana infused psychedelia and elements of jazz into their Latin rock sound. Their appearance at 1969’s Woodstock, the pinnacle of the hippie counterculture movement, raised their mainstream appeal and, as a result, 1970’s Abraxas quickly became a number one album in the USA. Although audiences were drawn in by the unique sounds of Carlos Santana and his group of talented musicians, the album’s artwork was partly responsible for drawing in audiences, too.
A painting by Mati Klarwein adorns the cover of the iconic album. Hailing from Hamburg, Klarwein learnt his artistic trade in the art schools of Paris in the early 1950s. Developing a truly unique and incomparable artistic style, Klarwein’s work was considerably ahead of its time.
In 1961, Klarwein created the painting Annunciation. The work, which would be used by Santana for the cover of Abraxas, came about after the French artist moved to New York City in the early 1960s. Speaking about the influence of the city on Annunciation, the artist explained, “I was 28 years old and at the peak of my molecular bio-energy. You can feel the sudden burst of the Big Apple’s electric zap in the composition”. The painting features the same complex psychedelic intricacies common throughout much of Klarwein’s more recognisable pieces.
Carlos Santana had reportedly seen a reproduction of the painting in a magazine and immediately wanted to use the image as the cover for his second album. Seemingly, the artist was grateful for Santana’s use of his work, later saying, “It did me a world of good. I saw the album pinned to the wall in a shaman’s mud hut in Niger and inside a Rastafarian’s ganja hauling truck in Jamaica. I was in good global company”, in his book Collected Works 1959-1975.
Klarwein was no stranger to the world of album covers. Over the years, his work has been used on the covers of albums from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jon Hassell and Reuben Wilson, among others. One of the artist’s most recognisable journeys into the world of album artwork came with the seminal Miles Davis album Bitches Brew. His unique and trippy style perfectly encapsulated the psychedelic influence of Davis’ album. Released mere months before Abraxas, his work on Bitches Brew was hugely influential in raising his profile as an artist.
The artwork of Abraxas is almost as legendary as the album itself. One of the most recognisable covers of the 20th century, Klarwein’s painting became an iconic work of the psychedelic period in its own right.