Heath Robinson
dal 4/11/2003 al 18/1/2004
Segnalato da
4/11/2003
Heath Robinson
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
This is the first exhibition to focus on William Heath Robinson's work as an illustrator. His ambition was to become a landscape painter but he realised that such painting would not pay the bills, so he followed his brothers into book illustration where his reputation was rapidly established.
In the 1930s William Heath Robinson (1872 - 1944) was known as "The Gadget King" and he is still most widely remembered for his wonderful humorous drawings. Less well known are his book illustrations, over a hundred of which will be on show for this Christmas exhibition. This is the first exhibition to focus on William Heath Robinson's work as an illustrator. His ambition was to become a landscape painter but he realised that such painting would not pay the bills, so he followed his brothers into book illustration where his reputation was rapidly established. The creator of inimitable illustrations for poetry by Poe and Kipling, Andersen's Fairy Tales, A Midsummer Night's Dream, de la Mare's Peacock Pie, The Water Babies and Perrault's Fairy Tales, his interpretations have ranked him alongside Rackham and Dulac, achieving classic status around the world. He is also loved for the children's books that he both wrote and illustrated, The Adventures of Uncle Lubin and Bill the Minder.
His was the first generation of artists whose work could be translated straight to the page without the intervention of an engraver and, like Beardsley and his other contemporaries, he took full advantage of the possibilities this presented. At the time of his death in 1944 only a minority of his public remembered his work as a serious illustrator, but the appeal of his humorous art was largely the result of his considerable talents as a serious artist. The basis of his humour was human nature, and so the majority of his work seems as fresh and relevant today as when it was first published.
This exhibition offers the chance to see over a hundred original drawings and paintings from the collection of The William Heath Robinson Trust. The Trust was established to conserve and exhibit the works of William Heath Robinson made by his daughter, Joan Brinsmead and is working with the Pinner Association and Harrow Council to raise funds for a Heath Robinson museum in Pinner. The exhibition is curated by Peter Higginson and Geoffrey Beare. A Trustee of the William Heath Robinson Trust, Geoffrey Beare is also Chairman of the Imaginative Book Illustration Society (IBIS) and an authority on the work of William Heath Robinson, which he has been collecting since 1971.
The exhibition is supported by Harvey & Wheeler and the Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Dulwich Picture Gallery
Gallery Road, Dulwich Village,
London SE21 7AD
+44 020 8693 5254