Thompson’s 1972 run for Colorado Sheriff, while unsuccessful, left behind a remarkable set of posters designed by his close friend Thomas Benton, and the Hunter S. Thompson Sheriff posters are now sought-after collectors’ items. He campaigned under the monikor ‘Freak Power’, a term that had first been used the year prior by a candidate in the Aspen mayoral election. The striking design, silk screened in primary colours, featured a scarlet fist clenching a peyote button, inside a stylised sheriff’s badge.
While widely reproduced, niche collectors often seek out original silkscreen posters signed by both Thompson and Benton. In an interview promoting a 2021 exhibition at New Yorks Poster House gallery that showcased ‘Freak Power’ campaigns and ephemera, a curator observed that while pristine examples of the original Thompson Sheriff posters have sold for close to US$25,000, the real drawcard for many collectors is the historical significance and link with Thompson, so much so that they had difficulty sourcing loans for the exhibition.
It’s significant, then, that on offer in the Theodore Bruce June 30 Eclectic Objects auction is a framed and signed Thompson Sheriff poster, originally purchased at Omni Bus Gallery, Aspen in October 1994. Find out more at:
theodorebruceauctions.com.au/hunter-s-thompson-sherrif-poster-at-auction
