The Society of Illustrators, located on 128 East 63rd Street in New York, New York, is hosting a major retrospective in honor of artist Ralph Steadman. This special exhibition will cover three floors of galleries from September 6 to October 22, 2016.
Steadman is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential illustrators of our time. His colorful, satirical liner drawings debuted in print during the 1960s in magazines such as Punch and Private Eye. At the same time, he started illustrating children's books, beginning with creating art for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. His work on that particular novel awarded him the Francis Williams Book Illustration Award in 1972. Steadman's later work on Through the Looking Glass also received high praise.
During 1969, Steadman partnered with journalist Hunter S. Thompson to cover the Kentucky Derby for Scanlan’s Weekly, followed by a Rolling Stone article titled “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream.” Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone founder and Steadman's friend, has loaned four of the originals from this work to be featured.
After his work on The New York Times, Observer Magazine, and Radio Times, Steadman began work on a series of award-winning books. Sigmund Freud; I, Leonardo; and The Big I Am were all written and illustrated by Steadman. Throughout the 1980s and ’90s, Steadman also created imagery for Oddbins Wine Merchants wine catalogues. Steadman continued to illustrate children's books including No Room to Swing a Cat, Teddy, Where Are You?, and Fly Away Peter.
In 2011, Steadman partnered with Immaker Ceri Levy on the conservationist show “Ghosts of Gone Birds." By 2012, a documentary by Charlie Paul, For No Good Reason, premiered. The film captured Steadman at work for over a decade, and includes conversations with his close friend Johnny Depp.
This incredible exhibition features pieces from Steadman's student days, his work on the Watergate Hearings, Oddbins wine merchants, political satire, and illustrated classics such as Treasure Island and Alice in Wonderland. Not to mention pieces from No Room to Swing a Cat, Teddy Where Are You?, and his portrait of Walter White from TV hit, Breaking Bad. As well as work from his latest project with conservationist Ceri Levi, Critical Critters, scheduled to be published in Autumn of 2017.
