Ardizzone: A Retrospective

Delightful exhibition at the House of Illustration looking at the life and work of Edward Ardizzone.

I knew Ardizzone’s work from his illustrations for children’s books and his work as a war artist in the Second World War but didn’t know anything about his life. I got the impression of a very hard working artist with a huge diversity graphic design work. I particularly loved the birthday telegram he’d designed in 1967.

I liked his early work drawing and painting working class subjects around Maida Vale. I was interested to see that the Tate bought a work by him in the 1930s but that his work hadn’t sold well.

I loved his war pictures. He seemed to bring a gentle human quality to the work. Even though most of the figures had indistinct faces their bodies were really expressive. There was a lovely picture in an underground shelter which had a feeling of the solidity of the Henry Moore pictures of the same scene. Most moving was “A cup of tea for the burial party” with freshly dug and filled graves in the front and three workmen pausing in their work to have tea.

It was great to see the original versions of the Tim and Lucy books complete with the text blocked out under each picture. Also the wonderful illustrated letters to family and friends. It was a nice touch to include a cabinet owned by him with some of his own books and examples of ceramics he’d designed for the New Chelsea China Company.

Closes on 22 January 2017

 

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