Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, Maine
June 6th – October 10, 2025
Ralph Steadman at Bates Museum of Art
Ralph Steadman was born in Wallasey, England in 1936 and is one of his generation’s most prolific and provocative artists. He is best known for his long collaboration with Hunter S. Thompson, notably illustrating 1971’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. Their partnership helped define Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting that blends personal experience with political commentary. He is an active artist today and continues to influence artists from around the globe.
Because Steadman’s works have so often been utilized in mass media like publishing, they have reached admirers with an appeal that crosses socio-economic demographics and national boundaries.Steadman’s work–with its mix of controlled and precise lines, anatomical and mechanical collage pieces, and bold and frenzied free-drawing and blots–is instantly recognizable to an extraordinary range of people. “Ralph Steadman enjoys an enthusiastic fan base,” says education curator Anthony Shostak. “We expect visitors from all across New England and beyond to flock to Bates to take advantage of the opportunity to see original works instead of reproductions.”
The exhibition fills the museum’s upper and lower galleries, offering a thorough exploration of Ralph Steadman’s remarkable career and diverse subject matter. Interactive resources in the exhibition will encourage visitors to look deeply and make connections between works. Accompanying the exhibition is a full-color, 207-page publication of the same name, available for purchase, as well as unique merchandise specifically for Bates College.
The realization of a Steadman exhibition at Bates marks almost a decade of planning between Bates’s former director Dan Mills, Ralph Steadman, and his team; another of Steadman’s exhibitions was set to arrive at the museum during the 2020 COVID Pandemic. Ralph Steadman: And Another Thing is organized by the Ralph Steadman Art Collection, and curated by Sadie Williams and Andrea Lee Harris. This exhibition has previously toured at American University in Washington DC and Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Following the presentation at the Bates College Museum of Art, the exhibition will open at Torrance Art Museum March 28-May 9, 2026 In 2027 The Barry Art Museum at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia will be presenting the exhibition in their incredible new museum gallery.
We are grateful for this opportunity to share Ralph Steadman’s art here in Lewiston and thankful to our partners for helping make this a reality, many thanks to Dan Mills, Corie Audette, Samantha Sigmon, Anthony Shostak, Hilary Gibson, Michel Droge, and additional contributing faculty, staff, and students. To our art framers, Dolphin Frames LLC, we appreciate your professionalism and the care you showed to the touring collection.
