Ralph Steadman

Ralph Steadman

An Englishman who lives in Kent, Steadman is a political and social caricaturist. He is perhaps best known for giving a chaotic texture to the chaotic text produced by Hunter S. Thompson. He has illustrated more than 20 books, including children's books, and written a few as well. He started off supplying freelance artwork for magazines like Punch and Private Eye during the 1960s but became a major name in the early 1970s. He provided the sketches for Thompson's seminal 1970 magazine article, The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved, that helped launch the Gonzo style of writing upon unsuspecting readers. Steadman accompanied Thompson to the races and it marked the first of many collaborations – the perfect combination of literature without boundaries and art as sharp as the writing. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was published in 1971, and the book remains almost unclassifiable. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 followed and by then Steadman's style was recognised around the world. That splattered red ink could only mean one artist.