On the afternoon of Friday, October 3, three of the museum’s student interns delivered impressive gallery talks about artwork from the current exhibition, Ralph Steadman: And Another Thing. Iffat Ikram ‘28 presented insightful commentary on the representation of the subjects in Steadman’s Animal Farm illustrations. Her gallery talk compared two illustrations, In the Beginning and How it all Went Wrong, and discussed the specific moments they represent in George Orwell’s novella. The presentation outlined the key plot points of Animal Farm, and discussed the ways in which Steaman’s compositional choices foreshadow the corrupting nature of power that Orwell sought to portray.

Lucy Read ‘27 then led the audience through a close-looking of Steadman’s Mother and Child #2. The black-and-white ink illustration is a work that Steadman created in the 1980s in support of World Aid’s stamp-out-famine initiative. Lucy’s commentary centered on the compositional choices the artist made, and they ways in which they cement Mother and Child #2 as one of Steadman’s most politically charged pieces. 

Brigid Gaffny ‘28 closed out the program with wonderful context for two works belonging to Steadman’s Gonzovationist series, Philippine Eagle Thinkin’ and Di Dodo. She highlighted the extensive work Steadman has done for animal conservation causes and gave context to the artist’s unique “Dirty Water” illustration technique that can be seen throughout the show.