London's Foundling Museum presents Quentin Blake – As Large as Life. Quentin Blake is one of the world's most well-respected illustrators of books for children. The exhibition showcases recent work commissioned by French and British hospitals together with familiar illustrations that appear on greeting cards, wallpapers, fabrics and ceramic items. Some 60 pictures will hang on the walls of the museum alongside works by William Hogarth, and his contemporaries, who gave works of art to the Foundling Hospital in the 1740s. The installation has been jointly organised by Compton Verney and the House of Illustration. The Foundling has developed a free iPad app to accompany the display.
Quentin Blake – About the Artist
Quentin Blake (b.1932) read English at Downing College, Cambridge. After completing National Service, he obtained a teaching diploma at the University of London, and then studied art at Chelsea Art Colege. Blake, who was Britain's first Children's Laureate (1999-2001), has received various awards and prizes, such as the Kate Greenaway Medal; the Emil/Kurt Maschler Award; the Whitbread Award, and the international Bologna Ragazzi Prize. In 2002 he received the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, the highest international recognition awarded to creators of children's books. He received the 'Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres' in 2004, for services to literature, and was made Officier of the same order in 2007.
Blake has illustrated several classics including Don Quixote and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and has worked closely with writers such as Joan Aiken, Russell Hoban, Michael Rosen, John Yeoman, and the late Roald Dahl. Blake has written and illustrated several children's books of his own, including Mister Magnolia and Mrs Armitage. He has also written more serious books, such as Women of Paris in Pictures, published to accompany an exhibition curated by the artist. He follows in the footsteps of that renowned artist William Hogarth who, more than 250 years ago, established the tradition of artists producing works of art for hospital settings in order create a better patient experience.
Quentin Blake – As Large as Life – Highlights of the Exhibition
Four series of Blake's pictures are on show throughout the Foundling Museum. They are usually displayed in places where the public would not normally see them, unless they were patients or visitors.
- Our Friends in the Circus (2009). This series, which shows characters from the circus, celebrates the enduring nature of well-learned skills. The pictures are from an adult mental health ward at Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, in north-west London.
- Ordinary Life (2010) can usually be seen at the Vincent Square Eating Disorder Clinic in London. Before producing these images Blake met the service-users to talk about his ideas. The resulting artworks reflect scenes of everyday life, such as shopping, feeding birds or walking a dog.
- Planet Zog (2007) is usually displayed in the waiting rooms and public spaces in the Alexandra Avenue Health and Social Care Centre, South Harrow. The images show aliens and young people exchanging doctor and patient roles.
- Mothers and Babies Underwater (2011) can be seen by patients and visitors at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Angers, France. The new maternity unit opened in October 201l, and is Blake's largest hospital project to date. Eleven delivery suites, the midwife station, the fathers' rooms and other public areas, are decorated with 50 drawings showing new mums and babies meeting each other for the first time as they swim together underwater.
Visitors to the exhibition can view a short film in which Blake talks about his public art and his artistic practice in general.
Quentin Blake – As Large as Life will be on show from 12th January to 15th April 2012. The exhibition is accompanied by a varied programme of family activities and workshops. Tickets and further information can be obtained from the Foundling Museum.
Frances Spiegel - Frances Spiegel, B.A. Hons. (Open)., Dip.Eur.Hum., read Art History/European Modern History at the Open University.
