House of Illustration, London
The inaugural Quentin Blake exhibition is a crowd-pleaser
The House of Illustration has been searching for a home for some time and has finally put down roots in an area where it is sure to thrive. Granary Square in King’s Cross is fast becoming a hub of cultural creativity, clustered around the Central Saint Martins art school and a vibrant new public space where people mingle among playful fountains, colourful deckchairs and renovated warehouses.
Visitors who approach the square along the new pedestrian route from King’s Cross station are enticed into the House of Illustration by large hoardings that are decorated with the work of some of our most illustrious illustrators, including Gerald Scarfe, David Gentleman and Posy Simmonds. The gallery and education space is housed in former Victorian railway offices.
The House of Illustration is described as “the place to see, learn about and enjoy illustration in all its forms, from adverts to animation, picture books to political cartoons and scientific drawings to fashion design”.
The organisation used to be restricted to touring exhibitions and outreach programmes, but the new premises allow the House of Illustration to hold temporary exhibitions in its dedicated gallery, as well as offering courses to students, family workshops and themed events.
Character development
The inaugural exhibition focuses on an intentionally crowd-pleasing subject: Quentin Blake, the illustrator who worked closely with author Roald Dahl on a series of much-loved children’s books. The exhibition features work displayed for the first time outside the artist’s studio together with an insight into the creative process behind some of the nation’s best-loved characters.
Illustrations are meant to speak for themselves and the pictures on display are left to do just that, with no unnecessary labelling or explanation.
The exhibition is formed around nine books chosen by Blake to show how he develops his characters and uses illustration to reflect the mood of the story.
Each section is given a short introduction in the illustrator’s words – some written directly onto the label in his own handwriting – which adds an immediacy to the display and gives the sense that visitors are being given a personal tour of the artwork by its creator.
Sketches showing various versions of the BFG’s enormous ears, for example, give an insight into the creative evolution of familiar characters. The quirky sense of humour underpinning Blake’s illustrations is evident in revealing statements such as: “I chose the moment just before Miss Trunchbull hit Bruce Bogtrotter with the plate.”
The ink-splattered pens, blotting paper and brushes ranged around the opening showcase are the artist’s materials, which increases the feeling that we are being given privileged access to Blake’s creative realm.
Presence of the artist
The presentation in the gallery is understated and stylish: white walls, simple but elegant tabletop cases, a neat uniformity to the framing and mounting, and effective, unobtrusive lighting.
The walls of the small opening room are festooned with colourful and exuberant murals of Blake’s characters, prompting one visitor to exclaim: “It’s like being inside the book.” This playful introduction marks the beginning of the circular route through the exhibition space, which comprises just three rooms.
In the main gallery, the artist’s voice is apparent again through quotations written onto the walls, where Blake’s reflections on illustration include the sage observation: “It’s like directing a play, except that you also get to design the scenery and play all the parts.”
The presence of the artist is also revealed in the personal comments that introduce the artworks and in the many thumbprints and smudges that bring an immediacy to his preparatory sketches.
Although Blake never draws from life – “it’s all invented on the page” – he explains how his approach varies from realism in Danny, the Champion of the World to caricature in The Twits, with the style chosen to reflect the tone of the story.
Other insights, such as the effect achieved by using “scratchy” pens and the creation of page-turning suspense, give the viewer a glimpse of the illustrator’s technique, but not enough detail to be wholly satisfying.
It was a delight to see children in the gallery engaging with the drawings, finding their favourite characters and re-telling the stories captured in the pictures. In fact, it was a delight to see many adults doing the same.
As an exhibition that was clearly going to appeal to families, the needs of a young audience have been considered and children are offered a folding stool on which they can stand to see into the table-top cases and get close to the wall-mounted drawings.
The final room of the exhibition is dedicated to one book: Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, written by the poet about his son, Eddie, who died aged 18. The subtle grey of the walls conveys the tone in the same way as the grey ink wash of the pictures. In this book about grief and loss, Blake’s drawings demonstrate the power of illustration to bring meaning to words.
The supreme skill of Blake’s hand is seen in his illustration of a sad man pretending to be happy, and he explains the difficulty of achieving “the right balance between feigned cheerfulness and real despair”. The different versions of the drawing displayed palpably expound this point.
Unanswered questions
The final section touches on the collaboration between author and illustrator, but this strand of the exhibition is not well developed and leaves many questions unanswered. To whom do the characters belong? Who has the final say in how the characters are depicted? Who chooses the scenes in the book to be illustrated? The exhibition was not as revealing as it had promised to be.
These questions are explored more in a new book on Blake, published in partnership with House of Illustration to coincide with the exhibition. There is also a catalogue that replicates the contents of the introductory showcase. It is attractively presented but disappointingly thin at just 26 pages. The shop could have been better stocked with more of Blake’s published work – at least offering the nine titles featured in the exhibition – and more books for children.
This inaugural exhibition is a promising start for the new gallery, elevating the practice, study and appreciation of illustration as art worthy of display in its own right.
Caroline Ikin, a former collections manager at the National Trust, is a writer and researcher
Main funders: Garfield Weston Foundation; Foundation for Sport and the Arts; Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation; The Gerald Segelman Trust; Clore Duffield Foundation; Kirby Laing Foundation; Fidelity UK Foundation; The Rothschild Foundation
Architect: Witherford Watson Mann
Quantity surveyor: Jackson Coles
Contractor: REM Projects
Quentin Blake: Inside Stories ends on 2 November.
Visitors who approach the square along the new pedestrian route from King’s Cross station are enticed into the House of Illustration by large hoardings that are decorated with the work of some of our most illustrious illustrators, including Gerald Scarfe, David Gentleman and Posy Simmonds. The gallery and education space is housed in former Victorian railway offices.
The House of Illustration is described as “the place to see, learn about and enjoy illustration in all its forms, from adverts to animation, picture books to political cartoons and scientific drawings to fashion design”.
The organisation used to be restricted to touring exhibitions and outreach programmes, but the new premises allow the House of Illustration to hold temporary exhibitions in its dedicated gallery, as well as offering courses to students, family workshops and themed events.
Character development
The inaugural exhibition focuses on an intentionally crowd-pleasing subject: Quentin Blake, the illustrator who worked closely with author Roald Dahl on a series of much-loved children’s books. The exhibition features work displayed for the first time outside the artist’s studio together with an insight into the creative process behind some of the nation’s best-loved characters.
Illustrations are meant to speak for themselves and the pictures on display are left to do just that, with no unnecessary labelling or explanation.
The exhibition is formed around nine books chosen by Blake to show how he develops his characters and uses illustration to reflect the mood of the story.
Each section is given a short introduction in the illustrator’s words – some written directly onto the label in his own handwriting – which adds an immediacy to the display and gives the sense that visitors are being given a personal tour of the artwork by its creator.
Sketches showing various versions of the BFG’s enormous ears, for example, give an insight into the creative evolution of familiar characters. The quirky sense of humour underpinning Blake’s illustrations is evident in revealing statements such as: “I chose the moment just before Miss Trunchbull hit Bruce Bogtrotter with the plate.”
The ink-splattered pens, blotting paper and brushes ranged around the opening showcase are the artist’s materials, which increases the feeling that we are being given privileged access to Blake’s creative realm.
Presence of the artist
The presentation in the gallery is understated and stylish: white walls, simple but elegant tabletop cases, a neat uniformity to the framing and mounting, and effective, unobtrusive lighting.
The walls of the small opening room are festooned with colourful and exuberant murals of Blake’s characters, prompting one visitor to exclaim: “It’s like being inside the book.” This playful introduction marks the beginning of the circular route through the exhibition space, which comprises just three rooms.
In the main gallery, the artist’s voice is apparent again through quotations written onto the walls, where Blake’s reflections on illustration include the sage observation: “It’s like directing a play, except that you also get to design the scenery and play all the parts.”
The presence of the artist is also revealed in the personal comments that introduce the artworks and in the many thumbprints and smudges that bring an immediacy to his preparatory sketches.
Although Blake never draws from life – “it’s all invented on the page” – he explains how his approach varies from realism in Danny, the Champion of the World to caricature in The Twits, with the style chosen to reflect the tone of the story.
Other insights, such as the effect achieved by using “scratchy” pens and the creation of page-turning suspense, give the viewer a glimpse of the illustrator’s technique, but not enough detail to be wholly satisfying.
It was a delight to see children in the gallery engaging with the drawings, finding their favourite characters and re-telling the stories captured in the pictures. In fact, it was a delight to see many adults doing the same.
As an exhibition that was clearly going to appeal to families, the needs of a young audience have been considered and children are offered a folding stool on which they can stand to see into the table-top cases and get close to the wall-mounted drawings.
The final room of the exhibition is dedicated to one book: Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, written by the poet about his son, Eddie, who died aged 18. The subtle grey of the walls conveys the tone in the same way as the grey ink wash of the pictures. In this book about grief and loss, Blake’s drawings demonstrate the power of illustration to bring meaning to words.
The supreme skill of Blake’s hand is seen in his illustration of a sad man pretending to be happy, and he explains the difficulty of achieving “the right balance between feigned cheerfulness and real despair”. The different versions of the drawing displayed palpably expound this point.
Unanswered questions
The final section touches on the collaboration between author and illustrator, but this strand of the exhibition is not well developed and leaves many questions unanswered. To whom do the characters belong? Who has the final say in how the characters are depicted? Who chooses the scenes in the book to be illustrated? The exhibition was not as revealing as it had promised to be.
These questions are explored more in a new book on Blake, published in partnership with House of Illustration to coincide with the exhibition. There is also a catalogue that replicates the contents of the introductory showcase. It is attractively presented but disappointingly thin at just 26 pages. The shop could have been better stocked with more of Blake’s published work – at least offering the nine titles featured in the exhibition – and more books for children.
This inaugural exhibition is a promising start for the new gallery, elevating the practice, study and appreciation of illustration as art worthy of display in its own right.
Caroline Ikin, a former collections manager at the National Trust, is a writer and researcher
Project data
Cost: £443,547Main funders: Garfield Weston Foundation; Foundation for Sport and the Arts; Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation; The Gerald Segelman Trust; Clore Duffield Foundation; Kirby Laing Foundation; Fidelity UK Foundation; The Rothschild Foundation
Architect: Witherford Watson Mann
Quantity surveyor: Jackson Coles
Contractor: REM Projects
Quentin Blake: Inside Stories ends on 2 November.