Past Exhibitions | Quentin Blake Centre | Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration

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Explore our archive of exhibitions on historic and contemporary illustration from recent touring shows and our previous House of Illustration (2014-2020) at King's Cross.

Illustration of a busy landscape full of trees, bushes, leaves, and vines, with two children standing on a tree trunk to the left of a circular opening in the vegetation. The child on the right is holding back some branches and they are both looking into the opening where you can see in the distance is a silhouette of a green ship.

Quentin Blake: Book Covers

2024 Touring exhibition

Two people in an exhibition space with framed illustrations on the wall.

The BFG in Pictures

24 June 2016 - 23 December 2022 House of Illustration then touring

Person in an exhibition space with framed illustrations on the wall and a wall sticker of a person.

Quentin Blake: Illustrating Verse

2022 – 2023 Touring exhibition

Illustration of an outdoor seating area

Peony Gent: Overlay

1 – 27 September 2021 Pancras Square, King’s Cross

Pencil sketch of a man with a sailor's hat on

Tom of Finland: Love and Liberation

6 March – 28 June 2020 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

A wall of bright typography screen prints in white frames

George Him: A Polish Designer for Mid-Century Britain

31 January – 10 May 2020 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

W. E. B. Du Bois: Charting Black Lives

8 November 2019 – 1 March 2020 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

A colourful poster featuring Che Guevara

Designed in Cuba: Cold War Graphics

27 September 2019 – 19 January 2020 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

A wall of bright typography screen prints in white frames

Marie Neurath: Picturing Science | Past 2019 Exhibition

19 July – 13 November 2019 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

Illustration of an older woman dressed in warm clothes hugging herself to suggest she's out in the cold

Posy Simmonds: A Retrospective

24 May – 15 September 2019 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

Full colour drawing of whimsical characters climbing a large tree

From the Studio

Permanent display House of Illustration, King’s Cross

An embroidered comic of a rabbit enacting aeroplane safety protocol

YiMiao Shih: Rabbrexit Means Rabbrexit

29 March – 14 July 2019 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

A simple line drawing of Madeline waving

Ludwig Bemelmans: Sketches for Madeline

1 March – 28 April 2019 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

A wall of bright typography screen prints in white frames

Corita Kent: Power Up

8 February – 12 May 2019 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

black and white sketch of refugees standing in line

Journeys Drawn: Illustration from the Refugee Crisis Exhibition

9 November 2018 – 24 March 2019 Exhibited at the House of Illustration

Charcoal drawing depicting a reclining figure

100 Figures: The Unseen Art of Quentin Blake

5 October 2018 – 27 January 2019 Exhibited at the House of Illustration

Framed illustrations displayed on gallery walls.

Quentin Blake: The Model as Artist

5 Oct 2018 – 24 Feb 2019 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Detailed drawing of an army of playing cards, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

John Vernon Lord: Illustrating Carroll and Joyce

13 July to 4 November 2018 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

An intricate wavy black, white and red pattern.

Enid Marx: Print, Pattern and Popular Art

25 May – 23 September 2018 Exhibited at the House of Illustration

Drawing of men on their fours dragging a chariot with a man wearing a flamboyant hat

Voyages to the Moon and the Sun

4 May – 30 September 2018 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

Textured and atmospheric drawing of floating people, rendered in dry media.

Christy Burdock: The People in the Gallery

28 March – 8 July 2018 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

Bold North Korean stamps

Made in North Korea: Everyday Graphics from the DPRK

23 February – 13 May 2018 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

Loose drawing of a nude figure running from a flying arrow

Arrows of Love

14 February – 29 April 2018 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

Illustration of an outdoor market, clothes and folded fabric is on display on the nearest stall.

Lucinda Rogers: On Gentrification

28 October 2017 – 25 March 2018 South Gallery, House of Illustration

Framed illustrations and text displayed on a green wall in a gallery space.

John Yeoman and Quentin Blake: 50 Years of Children's Books

6 Oct 2017 – 4 Feb 2018 House of Illustration, Kings Cross

Annotated sketch of a costume with an elaborate hoop skirt

Gerald Scarfe: Stage and Screen

22 September 2017 – 10 February 2018 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

Two patterned outfits in an exhibition space.

Jacqueline Ayer: Drawing on Thailand

16 June – 22 October 2017 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Framed illustrations displayed on a wall in a gallery space.

Anime Architecture: Backgrounds of Japan

16 May – 10 September 2017 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Framed illustrations displayed on two gallery walls. One of the walls is patterned.

Quentin Blake: The Life of Birds

5 May – 1 October 2017 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Large framed illustrations on display in an exhibition space.

Nous Vous: Three Men in a Boat

18 March – 11 June 2017 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Framed illustrations displayed on a green wall with a glass display case showcasing additional illustrations in an exhibition space.

Linda Kitson: Drawings and Projects

3 March – 30 April 2017 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Drawing of two people with spiky multicoloured hair holding hands and looking at eachother

Jo Brocklehurst: Nobodies and Somebodies

3 February – 14 May 2017 House of Illustration, King’s Cross

Two sculptures of two animals, a person is on the back of one of them. The wall behind is blue with an illustrated wood in white.

Laura Carlin: Ceramics

13 October 2016 – 5 February 2017 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Ardizzone: A Retrospective

23 September 2016 – 22 January 2017 House of Illustration, King's Cross

The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots

2 Sep 2016 – 26 Feb 2017 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Two people in an exhibition space with framed illustrations on the wall.

The BFG in Pictures

24 June – 2 October 2016 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Inside an exhibition space with framed illustrations on the wall and displayed in glass cabinets.

A New Childhood: Picture Books from Soviet Russia

27 May – 11 September 2016 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Seven Kinds of Magic

29 April – 24 August 2016 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Shojo Manga: The World of Japanese Girls' Comics

18 March – 12 June 2016 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Art installation. Shapes installed outside with illustrations projected onto the shapes. A person is next to them is taking a photo of the installation.

Crossing Time

13 February – 10 March 2016 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics

5 February – 15 May 2016 House of Illustration, King's Cross

David Lemm: Mapping King's Cross

28 January – 6 March 2016 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Lauren Child's Dolls' House

16 October 2015 – 17 January 2016 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Framed illustrations displayed on a gallery wall.

E. H. Shepard: An Illustrator's War

9 October 2015 – 24 January 2016 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Jake Green: The Bookmaker's Studio

3 September - 1 November 2015 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Ladybird by Design

9 July – 28 September 2015 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Pushing the Envelope

6 – 16 May 2015 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Hattie Stewart: Adversary

17 April – 19 July 2015 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Mac Conner: A New York Life

1 April – 28 June 2015 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Props by Paula Rego

12 November 2014 - 22 March 2015 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Paula Rego/Honoré Daumier: Scandal, Gossip and Other Stories

14 Nov 2014 – 22 March 2015 House of Illustration, King's Cross

A person is sitting at a desk covered in signs. They have art materials.

Rachel Lillie: Odyssey

4 Nov 2014 – 11 Jan 2015 House of Illustration, King's Cross

Adults and children in an exhibition space with tables, chairs and displays.

Paddington: Illustrated and Animated

18 October 2014 – 4 January 2015 House of Illustration, King's Cross

A person in an exhibition space, with framed illustrations on the wall and a glass display cabinet case.

Quentin Blake: Inside Stories

2 July – 3 Nov 2014 House of Illustration, King's Cross