Self "Poortrait" © Ralph Steadman 2006

A major retrospective on the work of Ralph Steadman to mark the acclaimed cartoonist’s 77th birthday on 15 May opens at the Cartoon Museum in London tomorrow (1 May). 

Steadman @ 77 will feature more than 100 original artworks and span the full range of his work including his first Punch cartoon, from 1956, and material from Private Eye, The Observer, New Statesman and others, as well as drawings that illustrated Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by his longtime collaborator Hunter S. Thompson.

The show also has drawings from Steadman’s takes on Alice in Wonderland and Animal Farm, and there are wine drawings for Oddbins, political cartoons and examples of  real and imaginary birds from his most recent book Extinct Boids.

Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas © Ralph Steadman for Rolling Stone

Accompanied by a 160‐page full-colour catalogue – with contributions by the actor Johnny Depp, the writer Will Self and the cartoonist Martin Rowson – the exhibition runs until 8 September.

The Cartoon Museum is in Little Russell Street, close to the British Museum. It also shows cartoons, comics and caricatures from the 18th century to the present day and is open Monday to Saturday 10.30am-5.30pm and Sundays 12noon – 5.30pm. For more information visit the Cartoon Museum website.