Quentin Blake

Last updated

Sir

Quentin Blake

Born
Quentin Saxby Blake

(1932-12-16) 16 December 1932 (age 91)
Sidcup, Kent, England
Education
Known forIllustration
Awards Kate Greenaway Medal
1980
Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration
2002

Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, CH , CBE , FRSL , FCSD , RDI (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. [lower-alpha 1] For his lasting contribution as a children's illustrator he won the biennial international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2002, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books. [1] [2] From 1999 to 2001, he was the inaugural British Children's Laureate. [3] He is a patron of the Association of Illustrators. [4]

Contents

Early life

Blake was born in 1932 in Sidcup, Kent, son of William and Evelyn Blake. His father was a civil servant, and his mother a housewife. [5] [6] [7] Blake was evacuated to the West Country during the Second World War. He attended Holy Trinity Lamorbey Church of England Primary School and Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School, where his English teacher, J. H. Walsh, influenced his life's work. [8]

Blake’s artistic development during his school years was helped by contact with the painter and cartoonist Alfred Jackson, the husband of Blake's Latin teacher, who encouraged his first submissions to Punch , resulting in his first publication at the age of 16. In the sixth form, the school's art teacher, the painter Stanley Simmonds, recognized Blake's talents and provided support and exposure to the work of other artists. [9]

Blake read English Literature at Downing College, Cambridge, under F. R. Leavis, from 1953 to 1956, received his postgraduate teaching diploma from the University of London Institute of Education, and later studied part-time at the Chelsea School of Art and later Camberwell College of Art. [10] He has since denied that studying at the University of Cambridge contributed to his artistic or creative talent. [11]

Career

During the 1960s, Blake taught English at the Lycée Français de Londres which cemented his long association with France and culminated in the award of the Legion of Honour. He taught at the Royal College of Art for over twenty years, where he was head of the Illustration department from 1978 to 1986.

The first book that Blake illustrated was The Wonderful Button by Evan Hunter, published by Abelard-Schuman in 1961. [12] In his subsequent career, he gained a reputation as a loyal, reliable and humorous illustrator of more than 300 children's books, including some written by Joan Aiken, Elizabeth Bowen, Sylvia Plath, Roald Dahl, Nils-Olof Franzén, William Steig, and Dr. Seuss. He illustrated the first Seuss book that Seuss did not illustrate himself, Great Day for Up! (1974). [13]

By 2006, Blake had illustrated 323 books, of which he had written 35 and Dahl had written 18. [14] [lower-alpha 1] To date, Blake has illustrated two of David Walliams' books and has illustrated Folio Society Limited Editions such as Don Quixote, Candide and 50 Fables of La Fontaine .

In the 1970s, Blake was an occasional presenter of the BBC children's storytelling programme Jackanory , when he would illustrate the stories on a canvas as he was telling them. In 1993, he designed the five British Christmas issue postage stamps featuring episodes from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Blake is a member of the Chelsea Arts Club. [15] He is patron of the Blake Society, Downing College's arts and humanities society. He is also a patron of "The Big Draw" [16] which aims to get people drawing throughout the United Kingdom, and of The Nightingale Project, a charity that provides art to hospitals. [17] Since 2006 he has produced work for several hospitals and mental health centres in the London area, a children's hospital (hopital Armand Trousseau) in Paris, and a maternity hospital in Angers, France. [18] These projects are detailed in Blake's 2012 book Quentin Blake: Beyond the Page, which describes how, in his seventies, his work has increasingly appeared outside the pages of books, in public places such as hospitals, theatre foyers, galleries and museums. [19] In 2007, he designed a huge mural on fabric, suspended over and thus disguising a ramshackle building immediately opposite an entrance to St Pancras railway station. The rendering of an "imaginary welcoming committee" greets passengers arriving on the Eurostar high-speed railway. [20]

Blake is a supporter of and ambassador for the indigenous rights NGO Survival International. In 2009, he said, "For me, Survival is important for two reasons; one is that I think it’s right that we should give help and support to people who are threatened by the rapacious industrial society we have created; and the other that, more generally, it gives an important signal about how we all ought to be looking after the world. Its message is the most fundamental of any charity I'm connected with." [21]

Blake is the Founding Trustee of House of Illustration, a centre in London for exhibitions, educational events and activities related to the art of illustration. He was also the subject of the first exhibition at this venue, entitled Inside Stories", which opened in July 2014. In August 2020, it was announced that the centre will be relocating to the 18th century Engine House at New River Head in the Clerkenwell area of London, and will be renamed the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration. [22]

Besides children's books, Blake is also the designer of Ben, the logo of the shop chain Ben's Cookies. [23] He designed several illustrations for the story time segments for the Scottish TV series Squeak! .

In 2023, Blake was asked by Blue Peter to design a new Blue Peter badge which they have called their Book badge.

Personal life

Blake has never been married and has no children. [24] He lives in South Kensington, West London, and has another house in Hastings, East Sussex. [25] [26]

Comics

Blake was additionally the artist behind the comic strip Waldo and Wanda, written by John Yeoman. [23]

Selected works

The following books were both written and illustrated by Blake: [14] [27]

Blake has illustrated a score of books by Roald Dahl. [lower-alpha 1]

He also illustrated the British edition of Agaton Sax, a Swedish-language series of comedy detective novels by Nils-Olof Franzén (originally illustrated by Åke Lewerth, 1955 to 1978).

Other

Honours and awards

Blake was the inaugural British Children's Laureate (1999–2001) [3] and was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts in 2001, [31] he received the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award from the International Board on Books for Young People for his career contribution to children's literature in 2002. [1] [2] He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2005 New Year Honours for his services to children's literature. In France he was made a Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2002 and elevated to Officer in 2007. [32]

For Mister Magnolia, which he also wrote, Blake won the 1980 Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject. [28] For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel of experts named it one of the top ten winning works, which composed the ballot for a public election of the nation's favourite. [33] He was also a highly commended Greenaway runner-up [lower-alpha 2] for The Wild Washerwomen: A new folk tale, by John Yeoman (1979), and a commended runner-up [lower-alpha 2] for Clown (1995), which he wrote himself. [30] He made the Greenaway shortlist [lower-alpha 2] for Zagazoo (1998), which he wrote, and for Sad Book (2004) by Michael Rosen.

Blake won the Kurt Maschler Award, or the Emil, for All Join In (Jonathan Cape, 1990), which he wrote and illustrated. The award from Maschler Publications and Booktrust annually recognised one British "work of imagination for children, in which text and illustration are integrated so that each enhances and balances the other." [29]

Blake was awarded the Prince Philip Designers Prize in 2011, and received the Eleanor Farjeon Award in November 2012. This annual award administered by Children's Book Circle recognises outstanding commitment and contribution to the world of British children's books. [34] Blake was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours for his services to illustration. [35]

In March 2014, he was awarded the insignia of a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur at a ceremony at the Institut Français in London. [36] He is also a Companion of the Guild of St George.

Blake was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to illustration. [37]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 WorldCat reports the twenty works by Blake that are most widely held by participating libraries. They are seventeen books written by Roald Dahl, Great Day for Up! by Dr. Seuss (rank 5), Michael Rosen's Sad Book (rank 14), and Wizzil by William Steig (rank 18).
  2. 1 2 3 4 Today there are usually eight books on the Greenaway Medal shortlist. According to CCSU, some runners-up through 2002 were Commended (from 1959) or Highly Commended (from 1974). There were 99 commendations of both kinds in 44 years including two for 1979 (Blake highly commended) and two for 1995 (one highly).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Briggs</span> English illustrator (1934–2022)

Raymond Redvers Briggs was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story The Snowman, a book without words whose cartoon adaptation is televised and whose musical adaptation is staged every Christmas.

The Carnegie Medal for Illustration is a British award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) which inherited it from the Library Association. CILIP is currently partnered with the audio technology company Yoto in connection with the award, though their sponsorship and the removal of Greenaway’s name from the medal proved controversial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Keeping</span> English illustrator, childrens book author and lithographer (1924– 1988)

Charles William James Keeping was an English illustrator, children's book author and lithographer. He made the illustrations for Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels for children, and he created more than twenty picture books. He also illustrated the complete works of Charles Dickens for the Folio Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Riddell</span> Illustrator

Chris Riddell is a South African-born English illustrator and occasional writer of children's books and a political cartoonist for the Observer. He has won three Kate Greenaway Medals - the British librarians' annual award for the best-illustrated children's book, and two of his works were commended runners-up, a distinction dropped after 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lane Smith (illustrator)</span> American illustrator and writer of childrens books

Lane Smith is an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He is the Kate Greenaway medalist (2017) known for his eclectic visuals and subject matter, both humorous and earnest, such as the contemplative Grandpa Green, which received a Caldecott Honor in 2012, and the outlandish Stinky Cheese Man, which received a Caldecott Honor in 1992.

Christian Birmingham is a British illustrator and artist who has worked with children's writers including the Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo, on books including Whitbread Children's Book of the Year The Wreck of the Zanzibar and Smarties Prize winner The Butterfly Lion. He was also shortlisted for the Kurt Maschler Award and Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration.

Michael Foreman is a British author and illustrator, one of the best-known and most prolific creators of children's books. He won the 1982 and 1989 Kate Greenaway Medals for British children's book illustration and he was a runner-up five times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Ross</span> English illustrator and writer of childrens books

Anthony Lee Ross is a British author and illustrator of children's picture books. In Britain, he is best known for writing and illustrating his Little Princess books and for illustrating the Horrid Henry series by Francesca Simon, both of which have become TV series for Milkshake! and CITV respectively based on his artwork. He also illustrates the works of David Walliams. He has also illustrated the Amber Brown series by Paula Danziger, the Dr. Xargle series by Jeanne Willis, and the Harry The Poisonous Centipede series by Lynne Reid Banks.

Jan Michał Pieńkowski was a Polish-born British author of children's books—as illustrator, as writer, and as designer of movable books. He is best known for illustrating the Meg and Mog picture book series. He also designed for the theatre. For his contribution as a children's illustrator he was UK nominee in 1982 and again in 2008 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books.

Martin Waddell is a writer of children's books from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He may be known best for his picture book texts featuring anthropomorphic animals, especially the Little Bear series illustrated by Barbara Firth.

Errol John Le Cain was a British animator and children's book illustrator. In 1984 he won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal for "distinguished illustration in a book for children" for Hiawatha's Childhood.

<i>The Roald Dahl Treasury</i>

The Roald Dahl Treasury is an anthology of works of the children's author Roald Dahl. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1997 by Jonathan Cape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babette Cole</span> English childrens writer and illustrator

Babette Cole was an English children's writer and illustrator.

The Children's Book Award is a British literary award for children's books, run by the Federation of Children's Book Groups and previously known as the Red House Children's Book Award. Books published in the U.K. during the preceding calendar year are eligible. It recognises one "Overall" winner and one book in each of three categories: Books for Younger Children, Books for Younger Readers, and Books for Older Readers. The selections are made entirely by children, which is unique among British literary awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Browne (author)</span> British writer and illustrator

Anthony Edward Tudor Browne is a British writer and illustrator of children's books, primarily picture books. Browne has written or illustrated over fifty books, and received the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2000. From 2009 to 2011 he was Children's Laureate.

The Kurt Maschler Award was a British literary award that annually recognised one "work of imagination for children, in which text and illustration are integrated so that each enhances and balances the other." Winning authors and illustrators received £1000 and a bronze figurine called the "Emil".

John Burningham was an English author and illustrator of children's books, especially picture books for young children. He lived in north London with his wife Helen Oxenbury, another illustrator. His last published work was a husband-and-wife collaboration, There's Going to Be a New Baby, written by John and illustrated by Helen for "ages 2+".

Helen Gillian Oxenbury is an English illustrator and writer of children's picture books. She lives in North London. She has twice won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal, the British librarians' award for illustration and been runner-up four times. For the 50th anniversary of that Medal (1955–2005) her 1999 illustrated edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was named one of the top ten winning works.

Brian Lawrence Wildsmith was a British painter and children's book illustrator. He won the 1962 Kate Greenaway Medal for British children's book illustration, for the wordless alphabet book ABC. In all his books, the illustrations are always as important as the text.

Molly Leach is an American graphic designer best known for her award-winning children's books.

References

  1. 1 2 (Hans Christian Andersen Awards 2002). International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY).
      "Hans Christian Andersen Awards". IBBY. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
  2. 1 2 "Quentin Blake" (pp. 108–09, by Eva Glistrup).
    The Hans Christian Andersen Awards, 1956–2002. IBBY. Gyldendal. 2002. Hosted by Austrian Literature Online (literature.at). Retrieved 2013-07-23.
  3. 1 2 "Quentin Blake". Children's Laureate (childrenslaureate.org.uk). Booktrust. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  4. "The Association of Illustrators". Archived from the original on 12 July 2016.
  5. Contemporary Authors, ed. Scot Peacock, Cengage Gale, 2002, p. 72
  6. People of Today, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2006, p. 152
  7. Blake, Quentin (18 December 2021). "Quentin Blake: 'Roald Dahl was a very different sort of person from me'". The Telegraph.
  8. "Questions and Answers | Quentin Blake". quentinblake.com. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  9. Kenyon, Ghislane (2016). Quentin Blake: In the Theatre of the Imagination: An Artist at Work. London: Bloomsbury. p. 68. ISBN   978-1441130075.
  10. The International Who's Who, 1996-97, Gale Group, Europa Publications, p. 162
  11. "Interview:Quentin Blake". The Cambridge Student. 6 November 2013.
  12. "The wonderful button" (first edition). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  13. Dr. Seuss (1974). Great Day for Up!. Beginner Books. OCLC   902800.
  14. 1 2 "Bibliography: A complete searchable bibliography of books illustrated or authored and illustrated by Quentin Blake" Archived 16 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine . Quentin Blake : Books : Bibliography (quentinblake.com). Archived 16 January 2012 (without search function). Retrieved 2013-09-28.
  15. "Chelsea Arts Club secretary signs off with 'lunatic' plea". London Evening Standard. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  16. The Campaign for Drawing. thebigdraw.org.uk.
  17. "The Nightingale Project". The Nightingale Project. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  18. "Quentin Blake – Home". Quentin Blake. 18 October 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  19. Quentin Blake: Beyond the Page, 2012, Tate Publishing.
  20. "Cover-up! Quentin Blake drafted in to hide 'unsightly' buildings" Archived 23 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine . Richard Osley. The Independent. 21 October 2007.
  21. "2010 Annual Report". Survival International.
  22. "The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration". House of Illustration. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  23. 1 2 "Quentin Blake". lambiek.net. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  24. "Quentin Blake: 'I never wanted children. But I do invent them.'". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  25. Standard, Kate Church, Evening (13 April 2012). "My London: Quentin Blake". Evening Standard. Retrieved 30 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. "Quentin Blake: 'Spend time with children? Good God, no' | Children and teenagers | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  27. "Books by Quentin Blake" Archived 24 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine (incomplete; no list). Quentin Blake.
  28. 1 2 (Greenaway Winner 1980). Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  29. 1 2 "Kurt Maschler Awards". Book Awards. bizland.com. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  30. 1 2 "Kate Greenaway Medal" Archived 16 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine . 2007(?). Curriculum Lab. Elihu Burritt Library. Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  31. "Prof Sir Quentin Blake CBE RDI (2001), Royal Academy of Arts, London".
  32. Quentin Blake – website of Gallimard Jeunesse.
  33. "70 Years Celebration: Anniversary Top Tens" Archived 27 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine . The CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards. CILIP. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  34. "Blake wins Eleanor Farjeon Award". Charlotte Williams. The Bookseller (thebookseller.com). 16 November 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  35. "Quentin Blake knighted in Queen's New Year honours". BBC News. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  36. "Sir Quentin Blake awarded Legion d'Honneur – United Agents".
  37. "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B6.
Cultural offices
Preceded by
New post
Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom
1999–2001
Succeeded by