Friday 19th July 2024

Hidden gems


Quentin's latest exhibition, 'Hand Drawn' at Bankside Gallery, is a wonderful mix of work from his prolific hand, created over the past ten years.  The sets of drawings on the walls (all in bespoke frames) show a range of subject, technique and materials: from dreamy fantasy owls in watercolour marker, to emotive landscapes in pen and watercolour wash;  Edwardian ladies with their dogs (or potted plants) worked in chinagraph pencil, and figures and heads in fibre-tip pen on thick watercolour sheets.  All these works are listed on the gallery page dedicated to the show.

Quentin has also delved into the drawers in his studio to unearth some additional delights, which have been beautifully mounted by Kronenbergs Framing.  They're all on show in the four browsers in the gallery: why not pop along and take a look?

Here at QBHQ, we thought we'd showcase some of the highlights.  Our first selection is taken from a miscellany of pen & ink works, many of which take the viewer on a tour of the outdoors
A selection of some of the pen & ink works in 'Hand Drawn'



The women in these four portraits are all extra drawings from Quentin's work for the maternity hospital in Angers, France.  Several of their sisters are featured sand-blasted onto the glass facade at the front of the building:

Angers maternity hospital drawings: clockwise from top left LP156a/23, LP156a/24, LP156a/25 & LP156a/26. Priced £1800 each, mounted


Quentin busily plied his fibre-tip pen to produce all 17 in the set titled 'Adult & Child' over a weekend at the end of 2023, with the idea that they could be offered for sale.  All six of the framed works were snapped up within the first three days of the exhibition opening, but here's a selection of some of our favourites from among the 11 works in the browsers:
Six more drawings from the 'Adult & Child' series, priced £1020 each, mounted


'Quentin Blake: Hand Drawn' is open daily at Bankside Gallery, 11am-6pm, until Sunday 28 July.  If you're not able to visit in person to buy an artwork, gallery staff will be pleased to help with any enquiries: just drop them an email at sales@banksidegallery.com.