By Ralph Steadman (Jonathan Cape)
ISBN: 0-224-02280-6
Ralph Steadman is arguably Britain’s greatest living artist, with works that range from the commercial arenas of Cartooning, Illustration, Caricature, Satire and Printmaking to novels, children’s books, stage and set design, animation, journalism, photography, painting, music and cultural commentary. If you’re a fan of modern comic books you’ve been enjoying the fruits of his far-reaching influence since the late 1980s…
If it’s creative he’s probably done it and uniquely well. The sod seems great at everything, and he’s got a sense of humour and a social conscience too.
This collection first appeared in that evocative year 1984, when he was 48 years old; less a retrospective than a manifesto of accomplishment thus far. Naturally it features hundreds of sketches, illustrations, paintings and drawings from this terrifyingly prolific creator, from sources as varied as Rolling Stone to Radio Times, but it also houses dozens of pieces of captivating writing, ranging from the drily (and here I mean witty not dusty) historical and autobiographical to the deepest introspection and well-considered philosophical judgement.
Steadman is a classical raconteur capable of imparting meaning to practically every sense. I suspect that if you bite him – and I’m not suggesting that you do – he’d even taste of heady tales and beguiling yarns. From his days with the nigh-mythical Hunter S. Thompson, his illustration of such classics as Alice in Wonderland, his collaborations with Ted Hughes and other poets, his reportage and especially those devastating caricatures and political sallies this book marks a solid half-way point in the prodigious career of an artist who truly knows no bounds.
There are simply too many books by Steadman to list – even his Wikipedia listing cites only a partial bibliography – and any one you find will blow your mind, but this is one of my favourites and well worth a renewed lease of life – not to mention a follow-up companion edition…
© 1984 Ralph Steadman. All Rights Reserved.