Quentin Blake unveils new mural ahead of opening of world’s largest space for illustration

Quentin Blake has unveiled a brand new mural at the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration. The illustrator visited the Centre ahead of opening on Friday 5 June.

To celebrate the opening, the Centre will give away free exhibition tickets to the first 50 people to creatively illustrate an official voucher collected on-site on opening day*.

The mural, A Bridge to the Past (2026), evokes the social history of the New River and the enduring relationship between people and water.

The origins of the site date to the early 1600s, when the New River Company completed a pioneering engineering project to bring fresh water from Hertfordshire to London.

From 1613, the New River supplied water to London. It was part of the city’s infrastructure, but it was also an unofficial source of joy and relaxation for local people looking to connect with the natural world. Although swimming, fishing and bathing were officially prohibited and people were arrested for doing it, reports from the 1830s claim up to a thousand people were bathing in the river every summer.

Quentin’s drawing depicts a bridge over the New River filled with figures from different eras drawn to the river through the ages. To tell the New River’s story, Quentin drew inspiration from Isaac Cruikshank’s 1796 engraving of men fishing the New River in formal attire, while other characters are from his imagination. His swimmers and creatures are timeless – neither historic nor contemporary.

Quentin Blake said, “I was especially pleased to be asked to produce a mural for Quentin Blake Centre’s cafe. You will see that I have drawn a bridge. It does not actually exist but I needed one to act as a bridge to the past. Crossing it are folk in period costume; they are all invented by me, except for the two men fishing who are borrowed from a print made in the 1700s.”

Created in ink by Quentin with calming blues, it has been digitally scaled up to sit on the Centre’s cafe wall measuring almost 5m by 2m. The cafe is situated at the heart of the Centre with a south-facing terrace and will be operated by east London cult-favourite Deeney’s. Housed within the former Boiler House, designed by William Chadwell Mylne in the 1840s, the café will be a space for visitors to pause between exhibition visits, grab lunch or enjoy an evening talk.

*Terms and Conditions apply. We reserve the right to limit the time of the free offer until 11:00 on Friday 5 June 2026.