Pantheon Art, a new fine art studio and Ralph Steadman have released a new series of ‘Steadman Self-Portraits’. Original art by Ralph Steadman is very rare – so it’s notable that 14 of the 24 prints in the series have been further elaborated by in his own hand.
‘MASK’ A self portrait by Ralph Steadman. Photo – Pantheon Art archives ©
The new art is a re-imagining of Ralph’s iconic self-portrait of 1981 which was featured on the cover of his book ‘Between the Eyes’.
Famed for making “humans look like reptiles”, this portrait lets Steadman’s humanity shine through. Here is a good man, a humorous man, who doesn’t take himself too seriously, but who from the beginning has reflected in his art the nightmares in the world around him.
His image emerges from forbidding and groundless darkness, while his gaze and twisted mouth reflect the torment of the horrors that he continues to rail against – the destruction of the environment and in particular the loss of animal species. The deep-socketed eyes, under their alertly raised eyebrows, dominate the image, reflecting his obsession to look hard and ‘see it as it is’.
Limited to an Edition of 24, each silk-screen print has been hand-pulled by Harwood King (harwoodking.com) and hand-signed by Ralph. Among the 24 prints, 8 have been enhanced with characteristic Steadman ink flourishes and 6 have been individually overpainted by Ralph Steadman to create unique, original works of his art.
The image of Ralph that Pantheon Art has featured has been individually overpainted by Ralph with a face mask to capture the worldwide agony of 2020. This ‘Mask’ image has been featured in the new book on Ralph’s life entitled ‘A Life In Ink’, as the final full-page image.
