Ben Talbert

American, (1933–1974)

Ben Talbert was born in Los Angeles, California in 1933. In the late 1960’s Talbert painted a collection of explicit playing cards with the American flag in the background. This group of paintings was originally supposed to be shown in a group exhibition in 1972 at the David Stuart Gallery in Los Angeles but was shut down by the police for being salacious.

His first solo exhibition, “Luck & Love”, was held at the Mermaid Tavern in Topanga, California as a secret show to exhibit the playing card collection. He died of alcohol poisoning at 41 in 1974.