?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000
THOMAS W. BENTON (1930-2007) ASPEN HUMANITIES SEMINAR / BOB DYLAN. 1969. 25 1/2x19 3/4 inches, 64 3/4x49 1/2 cm. Condition B+: darkening and abrasions at edges; creases and minor abrasions in image; hand-signed by the artist in pencil. Silkscreen. Paper. Framed. Benton, who served in the Korean War, studied architecture through the G.I. Bill at the University of Southern California. He practiced in Los Angeles, where he designed both commercial and residential buildings, then moved to Aspen, Colorado in 1963. Benton became politically active in the middle of the decade and abandoned architecture to focus on his art, the most visible product of which were his protest posters. He is best remembered for his four-decade long association with Hunter S. Thompson, for whom he designed campaign posters when Thompson was running for County Sheriff in 1970. They also collaborated on the memorable Aspen Wall Posters, during that same period, as an organ of the Freak Power movement that both men adhered to. "He went on to create campaign posters for more than fifty candidates including George McGovern, Gary Hart and Willie Brown. Benton also created numerous cause posters for local benefits, non-profits and charitable causes that suited his beliefs" (Benton p. 11). "Benton combined his love of poetry, quotes and design to create dozens of conceptual works of art. The visual images and words work in tandem to make a point and leave ample room for the viewer to reflect on the composition" (Benton p. 101). Benton created this image, of a human brain in the crosshairs of a rifle, the night Robert Kennedy was assassinated in June, 1968. He first used it on a poster that year with the title The American Dream, and he would use it again on the cover of the Aspen Wall Poster #4, in 1970, each version bearing differences from the previous usage. Benton p. 115.
