House of Illustration

A new kid on the museum block opened it doors this month. The House of Illustration  is a new permanent home for all forms of illustration from picture books to adverts. OH and I were quite excited to see the collection so headed up  to Kings' Cross a few weeks after it first opened.

 First stop though was the new underpass from Kings' Cross up to Granary Square. I think it's the only time that I've been excited by an underpass. It's ever changing in lights are reminiscent of Bridget Riley and as few people seem to know about it it's fairly empty.

And so on to the main event. After paying the entrance fee you walk into a fabulous room covered by Quentin Blake images. Blake is one of the trustees and subject of the first exhibition. 

What's not to love about Quentin Blake who appeals to the young and old (who remember back to when they were  young....)

As well as the wall illustrations there was a small display to give you an idea of the creative process including a paint palette. I love how it's so used.

 And into the main room where a selection of images from a section of his work spanning his career (Danny the Champion of the World, the Twits, The Clown, The Boy In the Dress and Candide to name a few) 

 As you can see the room was wall to wall of Blake's art 

 And I really liked the graphics of the gallery but then that is pretty much it. There is one smaller room depicting Blake's illustrations for Michael Rosen's 'Sad Book' which was about the death of his son and it didn't seem appropriate to photograph. So that was it. Which made us both say 'oh' (yes you got that right OH saying oh....) Massive anticlimax. We left with mixed feeling, what we saw was great but left us wanting more and feeling a little bereft as we had the impression that there was also a collection of illustrations for us to see in addition to the exhibition. But the collection is new, and still developing so hopefully in time more rooms will be available.

So in short it's great but small, support it if you can as there is the gem of something special beginning to grow.