12/03/2008

"The Art of Christmas" an exhibition



Illustration by Peter Malone from "The Nutcracker"

Illustration by Patricia Papps "Winter Fairy"

Illustration by Kate Greenaway.

I have just received a rather beautiful catalogue, which has been produced by “Books Illustrated” to accompany an exhibition of original artworks to be held at The Air Gallery in London from the 15th to the 20th of December. I am looking forward to my visit with eager anticipation, it will be a great excuse to visit London and see the Christmas decorations and maybe do a bit of Christmas shopping.

I will be having three works in this exhibition, which is very exciting, including the robin illustration above which I did some years ago for the World Wide Fund for Nature. The star of the show however, will be Peter Malone who will be featuring the complete works from his new book “The Nutcracker”, (see above) recently published by Knopf. I am a great fan of Peter’s work, which looks even more exquisite when you see it up close. He has an amazing eye for detail and his work has a timeless quality I think.

There will be works by some of Britain’s best loved contemporary illustrators, including Christian Birmingham, Charles Van Sandwyk and Patricia Papps alongside classic illustrators from the past such as Annie French, Honor Appleton, Arthur Rackham and Heath Robinson to name but a few. So, if you are looking for any stocking fillers and you have very deep pockets, you could treat yourself to an original Kate Greenaway perhaps? Well we can dream…