Our exhibitions programme will explore the boundaries of illustration, providing both historical contexts and contemporary directions. The House of Illustration will have generous spaces for temporary exhibitions which will draw on collections such as those at the Victoria and Albert Museum and British Museum, as well as our own. Our programme will explore the breadth of British and international illustration, and draw from a wide range of genres, for example, illustrations for books, posters, comics, fashion, and advertising. Exhibitions will also appear online as this site develops. The first of these is ‘What Are You Like?’
Our exhibitions will build on several illustration exhibitions that have taken place over the last few years. One of the most successful of these, the Magic Pencil, was organised by the British Council in 2002, which celebrated children’s book illustration and featured several of today’s best-known illustrators including Lauren Child, John Burningham, Raymond Briggs, Sara Fanelli and Stephen Biesty. The original art works were exhibited in a tour covering six European venues and a facsimile exhibition is still touring the world, having been to 50 countries and 171 venues.
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In All Directions; Travel and Illustration
Organised in collaboration with National Touring Exhibitions, this exhibition exploring the theme of travel toured to five venues in England and Wales from March 2005 to January 2006. ‘In All Directions’ included works of art from the last 300 years by a wide range of artists including Tiepolo, Hokusai, Brian Robb, Christopher Corr, Ardizzone and Ronald Searle.
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Quentin Blake at Christmas
Shown at Dulwich Picture Gallery from October 2004 to January 2005, this exhibition which celebrated key themes in Quentin Blake’s work – from his longstanding enthusiasm for birds as a subject, to work done specifically for publishers in France and illustrations for ‘A Christmas Carol’.
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Quentin Blake: Fifty Years of Illustration
Shown at The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House, from December 2003 to March 2004, before going on a year-long national tour, this exhibition celebrated the work of Quentin Blake from his early days contributing to ‘Punch’ to his more recent work developing much loved characters such as Zagazoo, Mister Magnolia and Mrs Armitage. The show also covered Quentin Blake’s work with other writers such as Roald Dahl, Michael Rosen and Russell Hoban, as well as books he illustrated for The Folio Society, for example Cervantes’ ‘Don Quixote’.