Compton Verney until Sunday 1 October 2023.
A witty and entertaining insight into one of the world’s best loved illustrators.
Although I lived in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire for a couple of years during the nineteen seventies, I didn’t really have much knowledge of the children`s writer Roald Dahl, until many years later, I knew even less about Quentin Blake!
I was twenty years old and had met a young lady in Cornwall during one of my never to be forgotten long, `summers in the sun`. I decided to move to Buckinghamshire from Staffordshire to be with my newfound love. It was a love, not to last! I had a few jobs in furniture removal and electro plating, something I had tried my hand at some years before back home, but the relationship soon fell apart and I returned to the factories of the West Midlands, but my short time in Great Missenden was forever etched in my mind.
What I didn’t know at the time was one of our countries greatest ever children`s writers, short story writers, poet, screenwriter and fighter pilot was living in the same village, as me! From what I can remember no one in the small Buckinghamshire village ever spoke about him or pointed out his house, which on reflection was a huge disappointment. 2016 marked 100 years since the birth of Roald Dahl and I was lucky enough to visit, `The BFG in Pictures`, at the House of Illustration, now the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in London, a museum I had never heard of, until I first visited! The exhibition consisted of original Quentin Blake illustrations, which had been prepared for Roald Dahl’s classic story.
My education in illustration continued more recently when I visited Quentin Blake: Birds, Beasts and Explorers: Compton Verney, Warwickshire which is showing until Sunday 1 October 2023. Quentin Blake needs very little introduction to generations of children, worldwide. Many of us have grown up with the illustrations of Quentin Blake through the written words of Roald Dahl, Michael Rosen and more recently David Walliams.
Sir Quentin Blake is one of the most celebrated illustrators and writers of children’s books working today. Over the course of a career spanning several decades, Blake has illustrated more than 500 books, bringing to life treasured literary characters in his unmistakeable style and inspiring generations. Showcasing over 70 original illustrations, this exhibition takes inspiration from a recurring theme in Blake’s work – birds, fantastical flying creatures & the joy of exploring in nature, as well as the birds that call the Compton Verney grounds their home.
I was once again able to enjoy the wonderful creations of one of the world’s most important and best loved illustrators. The exhibition is an absolute treat for those of us with a fondness for Blake`s unmistakable style of drawing. His trademark, free flowing, sometimes scribbly, scratchy lines and vibrant splashes of colour will be reassuringly familiar to many of us. The exhibition reveals how he uses a wide range of different techniques and media to create his distinctive and unforgettable images, including watercolours and pastels, in response to the mood of the book and the nature of his characters.
Blakes illustrations continue across the gallery walls as transfer images! Many look as though they have escaped their frames & the language used on the written commentaries is focussed for junior readers. This is a child centred exhibition for all the family. There is an abundance of bright colours, humour, movement & vibrancy in Blakes illustrations which appeals to young children. I was very pleased to find that pencils and paper had also been provided for both young and other visitors the opportunity to have a go at drawing their very own characters, if a little less successfully than Quentin! The `washing line` of visitor drawings were wonderful, many completed with pencil & crayons. I loved the interaction that the gallery has encouraged with its visitors, particularly the young. There were many junior school children enjoying the exhibition on the day I visited.
Drawings from Quentin’s own picture books, including his mischievous ‘Cockatoos’ and the eccentric Professor Dupont are displayed alongside illustrative work for fellow authors such as John Yeoman (‘The Heron and the Crane’ & ‘Up with Birds!’) and co-writer Emanuele Luzzati (Three Little Owls). The series of watercolour works for The Green Ship are simply wonderful, adding a new dimension to topiary!
Visitors can enjoy a look at more birds, beasts and insects which have appeared in hospitals such as Kensington & Chelsea Mental Health Centre or other settings beyond the pages of books including a 3-metre tapestry of a griffin, based on one of Quentin’s original watercolours, and drawings of dragons from the series of works for the Dragon Centre at St George’s Hospital in Tooting.
The final section of the exhibition takes visitors on a voyage of discovery with the help of Quentin’s creations relating to travel from airborne sailing boats to unique wheeled inventions and animal-based modes of transport.
“There are lots of connections between what visitors will see on the walls of the galleries inside the house, and the wildlife we have in the grounds of Compton Verney. Follow Quentin’s lead and take inspiration from the characters he has so memorably created, before embarking on your own adventures that are just waiting to be enjoyed here, amongst our 120 acres of beautiful parkland. There are dozens of varieties of bird and animal life here to see.”
Exhibition Curator Oli McCall
This is an extensive collection of Quentin Blake`s finest work, it is an exhibition that should not be missed. I simply loved it! It is an exhibition that will appeal to all ages. Quentin Blake is now ninety years old, but he has shown no signs of slowing down his output of work. His most recent body of work explores the themes of mental health, loneliness, and displacement. With a flourish of his brush, Blake can capture a multitude of emotions, so beautifully realised in his illustrations.
If you love illustration, Quentin Blake or the books of Roald Dahl, Michael Rosen or David Walliams, you should definitely take the opportunity to take in this splendid exhibition. It has proven to be an absolute hit with all visitors, children & adults alike!
If you visit Compton Verney for the Quentin Blake: Birds, Beasts and Explorers: exhibition as a result of reading this blog, please mention The Travel Locker.
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Compton Verney
Warwickshire
CV35 9HZ
01926 645 500
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All Illustrations © Quentin Blake
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