Artist Signed and Numbered Thomas Benton Silkscreen Hunter S. Thompson for Sheriff 1970 Aspen Colorado Numbered 66/ 658

Signed and Numbered Thomas Benton Silkscreen Thompson for Sheriff 1970 Aspen Colorado 66/ 658

Thomas W. Benton (1930-2007)

Born in California, he moved to Aspen in the mid 1960’s and by 1965 had become involved in politics and began his career of activist posters and anti war posters. It was during the 1960s that he met Hunter S Thompson, the famed journalist and writer. Thompson would be known as the Gonzo journalist with some of the most outlandish side stories fulled by drugs and alcohol but at the same time writing some of the era’s best reporting of current events. The Fear and Loathing on the Campaign trail of Nixon was one of insight, satire all filtered through the wit and haze of Thompson. Brenton’ s “friendship and collaboration with Thompson spanned more than four decades and created or inspired some of Benton’s most recognized works, including the 1970 “hunter S. Thompson for Sheriff” poster and a series of political posters that combined art and writing — the Aspen Wallposters.”

This poster for Hunter’s 1970 campaign for his running for Sheriff in Aspen was one of many collaborations the two had together. It is hard to say who influenced who or the synchronicity of the two developed together.
In this poster we have the iconic fist, with the flower in the center inside the sheriff star badge. “Borne of the hippie movement that had swept the nation just a few years earlier, “Freak Power” extended “Flower Power” into an altogether more coherent and aggressive political movement, which Thompson felt could be expanded into a national platform. It was, at its core, an effort to galvanize the youth of Aspen and create a viable voting bloc to leverage power away from the rich. While Benton produced artwork for their campaign posters, Thompson outlined his ideas in the local press. “
There are three versions of this poster, this one being the second version, the first has the line under the 1970, the 2nd and 3rd dont but the variations on the 2nd and 3rd is subtle, at the bottom star point and the S, the 2nd has more space than the 3rd.
This numbered edition of 66/ 658 is penciled numbered on the left and signed by Thomas Benton in pencil on the right. 

Note on Provenance
from the author of “A Legacy for the Godfather of Gonzo” Mike Anft, written in Nov 10th 2005 for the Chronicle of Philanthropy
Letter from Mike Anft

“I interviewed HST's widow and several friends for the story (as you'll see). I went to Woody Creek, Colo. to see HST's homestead and, later, buy his widow dinner at the Woody Creek Tavern. Next door is the Woody Creek General Store. To my surprise, HST's old chum, George Stranahan, was running it on the day I stopped by. He owned the joint.

Stranahan was a legend on his own. He was a scion of the Champion spark plug fortune, a noted and well-published particle physicist, and the head of a couple of private foundations. He was also the founder of Flying Dog Brewery, which moved from Colorado to Buckeystown, Md. not too long after this article was published to be closer to the majority of its customers. 

The story is that Stranahan, Ralph Steadman, and HST were traveling through Pakistan, but soon learned that a Muslim country is a dry one. With some help, they managed to scrounge up some beers. Stranahan mused that they should drink to the garish painting of a flying dog in their hotel room. Later, he named the beer after that moment.

I walked around the shop somewhat idly while Stranahan dealt with another customer and saw that the poster in question was for sale. I wanted to bring back something cool for my office, so he and I made a deal on the price, then had an entertaining interview, and I was on my way.”

Size: approx. 24 x 36 inches 
Condition: very fine with no smudging or damage to the signature. Image is in near pristine condition. 

If you have any questions or need additional images, please feel free to contact me.