Cathy's Art Diary

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 fr...