Exhibitions and events which we think may be of interest to IBIS members.
We welcome suggestions for additions to this list.
Current Exhibitions
Happily Ever After
Heath Robinson Museum, Pinner
On until 17 September 2023
Two collections of Fairy Tales stand out in William Heath Robinson’s illustrative work. These are the Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, which he illustrated three times, and those collected by Charles Perrault. The Perrault stories were translated from the French by his agent A E Johnson and published in 1921 under the title Old Time Stories.";
Happily Ever After? Illustrating Perrault & Andersen’s Fairy Tales is an exhibition exploring Heath Robinson’s illustrations for the these fairy tales, as well as work on the same subjects by Michael Foreman.
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Quentin Blake Book Covers
Aberdeen Art Gallery
On until 17 September 2023
Quentin Blake’s career illustrating books began over 60 years ago with his covers for paperback fiction. Since then he has created hundreds of designs for everything from literary classics to his own picture books.
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Future venues include:
South Dublin Libraries (Ballyroan Library, 2 October to 30 October 2023)
Rugby Art Gallery and Museum (10 February to 11 May 2024)
Oxfordshire Museum (29 June to 8 September 2024)
Quentin Blake Illustrating Poetry
Aberdeen Art Gallery
On until 17 September 2023
Quentin Blake has been writing and illustrating poetry throughout his 60-year career. Many of his own books feature rhymes and songs, and he has collaborated with writers including Michael Rosen and Roald Dahl.
Click Here for Further Information
Future venues include:
Lighthouse, Poole Centre for the Arts (23 September 2023 to 3 January 2024)
The Legend of King Arthur: A Pre-Raphaelite Love Story
Falmouth Art Gallery
On until 30 September 2023
A Touring exhibition that depicts the triangular interdependency that exists between Arthurian legend, Pre-Raphaelite artists and locations linked to the Arthurian legend.
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Axel Scheffler: A Life in Illustration
Museum of Somerset (Taunton, UK)
On until 28 October 2023
New exhibition bringing together the broadest public display of Scheffler’s illustrations in the UK, giving visitors a unique insight into his published work.
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The Wonderful World of the Ladybird book artists
Bailiffgate Museum, Alnwick
On until 5 November 2023
A touring exhibition featuring hundreds of vintage Ladybird books and original watercolour illustrations, curated by ladybird book expert Helen Day.
Future venues and dates:
Spring 2024: The Victoria Art Gallery, Bath.
Summer 2024: St Albans Museum, St Albans.
Click Here for Full Details
Flower Fairies: Enchanting illustrations by Cicely Mary Barker
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight (Liverpool)
On until 5 Nov 2023
To mark the 100-year anniversary of her first book, Flower Fairies of the Spring, this exhibition will feature around 45 original illustrations by Cicely Mary Barker (1895 to 1973), with digital projections and costumes inspired by the fairies, designed by Vin Burnham.
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Forthcoming Events and Exhibitions
The Rossettis and 20th-Century Women Illustrators
Online Lecture by Michelle Reynolds
Hosted by the University of Delaware
30 September 2023
Florence Harrison, Jessie Marion King and Phoebe Anna Traquair – women illustrators working in turn-of-the-20th-century Britain – were heavily influenced by the first generation of Pre-Raphaelites in their choice of subject matter and style. Pre-Raphaelites Dante Gabriel, Elizabeth and Christina Rossetti inspired their representations of women, particularly those of “emancipated” women.";
Join Pre-Raphaelite Studies Fellow Michelle Reynolds to explore how women illustrators used the illustrations, drawings, watercolors and poetry of the Rossettis to create a new iconography of women in the early 20th century.
Click Here for Full Details
Illustrating the Grotesque
Heath Robinson Museum, Pinner
23 September to 10 December 2023
Acidic, bawdy, grotesque. Heath Robinson’s illustrations for Rabelais explore a dark and dramatic part of his practice, characterised by expressive linework and grim subjects. See them alongside Goya’s Los Caprichos; experimental etchings portraying beasts, scoundrels and a society in ruin.
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Auction of original works from the Graham Oakley studiod
Charterhouse Auctioneers, Sherborne, Dorset
With online bidding available
27 September 2023
Extensive auction of original work from the illustrator of numerous much-loved children’s books.
Click Here for Full Details
Max Beerbohm: The Price of Celebrity
New York Public Library
20 October 2023 to 28 January 2024
This exhibition maps Beerbohm’s career in relation to the evolving idea of celebrity. We follow him from
his early days in the “Decadent” circles of Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley through his late career as a radio performer
on the BBC during World War II. Drawn from across the Library’s collections, as well as loans from private and institutional
collections, Max Beerbohm: The Price of Celebrity includes rare original caricature drawings, manuscripts, photographs, books
from Beerbohm’s library, and personal items, most on public display for the first time. Curated by Margaret D. Stetz and Mark Samuels Lasner.
Image © The Estate of Sir Max Beerbohm
Click Here for Full Details
Oxford Fine Press Book Fair
Examinations Schools, Oxford
9 and 10 December 2023
Annual book fair specialising in fine press, arists books, illustrated books, etc. Organised by the Fine Press Book Association.
Click Here for FPBA Website
