For 25 years, The Chris Beetles Gallery has been famous for promoting the art and history of illustration, and this exhibition marks the pinnacle of its efforts. "The Illustrators" will feature 1,000 pictures on the wall, 200 years of art history, and a 450-page, museum-quality catalogue.
Starting with Thomas Rowlandson, visitors will navigate their way through Regency satire to the era of Victorian PUNCH illustrations, when artists like Sir John Tenniel, George Du Maurier, and Linley Sambourne entertained the public with their witty, accomplished cartoons.
The exhibit then moves on to the 20th century when, during the first 40 years, Arthur Rackham, E. H. Shepard, and William Heath Robinson dominated the British illustration scene. All three are represented heavily in the exhibition, with large groups of their most popular work on display, including drawings from PETER PAN IN KENSINGTON GARDENS, THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER, and a number of Heath Robinson's contraptions. Alongside these will be displayed work by their contemporaries, including Louis Wain, Edmund Dulac, Walter Crane, Mabel Lucie Attwell, Kate Greenaway, H. M. Bateman, and a host of other much loved illustrators.
The next generation includes work by Ronald Searle, Norman Thelwell, Edward Ardizzone, Mervyn Peake, Giles, Rowland Emett, and many more favorites from post-war magazines, newspapers, comics and children's books. Examples of the best contemporary work include illustrators Quentin Blake, Michael Foreman, Peter Cross, Paul Cox and Helen Oxenbury. Also included will be the quick wit of newspaper cartoonists Peter Brookes, Matt, Nick Newman, Kipper Williams, Mac and, from across the Atlantic, the American satirist Ed Sorel.
The gallery is open from 10:00 am -5:30 pm, seven days a week. The Chris Beetles Gallery is located at 8 & 10 Ryder Street, London SW1Y 6QB. For more information, visit www.chrisbeetles.com.
