Tres en un Sofá/Three on a Sofa

Silkscreen, 29 15/16 x 20 1/16 inches. Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC). Courtesy of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics

When artist Christopher Price’s (Jerry Lewis) psychiatrist fiancée Dr. Elizabeth Acord (Janet Leigh) refuses to accompany him on an important commission in Paris because she is too involved with three female patients, Price “dates” the three women. In the poster, the composite character wears a straitjacket, representing the bind that Price ultimately tangles himself in, and the face is made of elements representing the three characters Lewis plays to date Accord’s clients: a cowboy hat (a rancher), glasses (a zoologist), and tennis shoes (an athlete). Price predictably fails in his attempt to prove the sexist assumption (noted in a 1974 "The New York Times" review) that the right man can solve the problems of all women. ICAIC compares the poster design to the work of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, the sixteenth-century Italian painter best known for creating portraits entirely out of objects.