1 of 2
The University of Kentucky art exhibit “Ralph Steadman: A Retrospective” features more than 100 of the artist’s original works, including Steadman’s 1970 pen, ink and watercolor piece “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved.” Image furnished
2 of 2
Author Hunter Thompson’s books “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72” are among the works Steadman’s illustrations famously accompanied. Image furnished
Ralph Steadman’s dark, frenetic and often satirical art is immediately recognizable as the visual embodiment of Kentucky-born journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson’s gonzo journalism – a frenzied, reality-bending mix of factual reporting and first-person narrative. Thompson’s 1970 article “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved” and books “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72” are among the works Steadman’s illustrations famously accompanied. But while Steadman’s partnership with Thompson is familiar to many, his portfolio includes far more than those illustrations, and visitors to the University of Kentucky Art Museum can explore the breadth and depth of the illustrator’s work with the exhibit “Ralph Steadman: A Retrospective” on display through May 5.
Growing up in Liverpool, Steadman left school at age 16, with the goal of becoming an aircraft engineer. At 18, as he began National Service in the Royal Air Force as a radar operator, an advertisement in a magazine caught his attention, and he enrolled in Percy V. Bradshaw’s Press Arts School’s cartooning course. During his service, the artist practiced his figure drawing and continued cartooning, sending cartoons to various newspapers. His persistence paid off in 1956 when the Manchester Evening Chronicle published his cartoon about the Suéz Crisis – a piece that is included in the retrospective.
Steadman moved to London and continued cartooning to earn a living while attending art classes at East Ham Technical College and, later, the London College of Printing and Graphic Arts. His formal studies influenced his work and conventional cartooning began to feel restrictive, so Steadman fully entered the world of political cartooning.
“Steadman came of age during the rebirth of political satire in England in the 1960s,” said Janie Welker, the curator of collections and exhibitions at the UK Art Museum. “He rode the wave, but he also paved the way for social satire.”
In 1969, the newly minted Scanlan’s Monthly, dedicated to maverick journalism, paired Steadman with Thompson to produce what became an iconic exposé of the 1970 Kentucky Derby. The article marked not only the first appearance of the author’s signature “gonzo journalism” style but also spawned a collaborative partnership and friendship between the author and illustrator that lasted until Thompson’s death in 2005.
With more than 100 works on display, the show spans multiple decades, providing a wider perspective on Steadman’s body of work, beyond his collaborations with Thompson and his political cartoons.
“He is very facile, moving easily between styles and mediums,” Welker pointed out.
Among the works visitors will see are examples of various literary illustrations beyond his collaborations with Thompson. Steadman authored, illustrated, or collaborated on dozens of original children’s books as well as lending his distinctive style to Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.” He has also applied his vision to George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” and Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” and penned his own works on Leonardo Da Vinci and Sigmund Freud. His resume also includes commercial illustrations for wine retailers and beer labels, album covers for The Who and Frank Zappa, and illustrations for several works about extinct and endangered animals.
Visitors to the exhibit – particularly those who are used to seeing Steadman’s work reprinted on the pages of books or magazines – may find surprises when experiencing Steadman’s original work in person, both in scale and technique. Welker explained that the work “...blends collage, pen and ink, splatters, pastels, and even lipstick and eyeliner.”
“Some of the techniques used in his originals can’t be seen when the work is reproduced,” she continued.
Of special local interest, the exhibit also includes some memorabilia from Steadman’s trip to the 1970 Kentucky Derby, including pictures and receipts from the trip , along with a note from Steadman to the magazine’s publishers explaining that he normally didn’t gamble but felt he must at the Derby, therefore he was submitting a receipt for his placed bets.
The exhibit made its debut in 2016 at the Cartoon Museum in London, curated by the museum’s director/curator Anita O’Brien in partnership with the Ralph Steadman Art Collection, an organization dedicated to promoting Steadman’s work while protecting the brand through the quality of licensing and exhibitions. The exhibit made its way to the United States in 2018, with the UK Art Museum being one of an exclusive group of venues asked to host.
When Steadman’s daughter Sadie Williams, executive director of the Ralph Steadman Art Collection, was looking for a Kentucky venue to host the retrospective, UK was recommended for both its curatorial and programming reputation, museum director Stuart Horodner explained. He said that for the museum, hosting the show is an honor but also advances the museum’s current priorities, adding that the exhibit is inclusive, with an appeal both local and beyond.
“[It] is historical and contemporary, includes drawing and printmaking and literature and art – it has everything that we are interested in showing,” Horodner said.
Coinciding with the Steadman exhibit, the museum is also featuring an exhibit in its upstairs gallery called “CoBrA: Hope After Destruction” – a post-war European movement that rejected tradition in favor of fresh, spontaneous work – and another called “Pushing the Envelope: Mail Art from the Archives of American Art,” which features art that utilized the postal system in order to circumvent museums and galleries, rejecting the commercial art market and government censors.
Now 82 years old, Steadman has created – and continues to create – a vast array of work that moves adeptly from politics to pop culture to celebrity, spans decades, and consists of many mediums. As Welker said, “This show will be revelatory for many.”
1 of 2
A Steadman self-portrait, inspired by the artist’s long-running collaborative relationship with late Kentucky-born author Hunter S. Thompson. Image furnished
2 of 2
Steadman's illustration of the influential and under-the-influence Hunter S. Thompson. Image furnished