the first museum I've visited in London was the Cartoon Museum. The Cartoon Museum is located just a few hundred meters from the world famous British Museum. So if you are in London and want to go to the Britsh Museum, don't forget to visit the nice Cartoon Museum in Little Russell Street. It's small, but cozy. I was welcomed by Kate Owens, who is Assistant Curator of the Museum. She gave me a short explanation about the history of the museum and let me take a short look at the museum's cartoon book library.
A promotional leaflet says:
"The Cartoon Museum shows the best of British cartoon and comic art. You can discover the roots of Britsh cartooning in the works of Hogarth, Gillray and Cruikshank, explore the worlds of Heath Robinson, H.M. Bateman, Donald McGill and David Low and chuckle at the wit of many of today's funniest artist. There is also great comic artwork from 2000AD and some of the leading creators of graphic novels".
The museum organizes changing temporary exhibitions (like the ECC) and the museum pays much attention to children by organising cartooning and animation workshops. In the museum shop, you can buy interesting cartoon books, cards, posters, etc.
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| I was there... |
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| enter the museum through the cartoon wall... |
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| part of the cartoon books collection |
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| exhibition: the history of Britsh cartooning |
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| second floor dedicated to comic strip |
Some highlights from this unique Museum (source: museum's press release)
* Rare and original artwork on loan from The Beano, the Dandy, and Topper including The Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger, Billy the Whizz, Desperate Dan, Beryl the Peril and of course Dennis the Menace.
* Classic works by Gillray including The Plumb Pudding and, John Bull - taking a luncheon, and The Zenith of French Glory.
* Cartoons in 3D including Gerald Scarfe¹s memorable Chairman Mao, Scarfe's caricatured original leather armchair from 1971.
* Great gag cartoons by Larry, Kipper Williams, Tony Husband, Nick Newman and many more.
* Classic war cartoons including Sir David Low’s ‘All Behind you, Winston’, and Bruce Bairnsfather’s, ‘If you know a better ‘Ole...’
* Colour mural painted by top cartoonists including Steve Bell, Dave Brown, Martin Rowson, Peter Brookes, Chris Riddell, MAC and Hunt Emerson.
* Annual cover drawings by Carl Giles featuring the Giles family and his immortal Granny.
* A Museum shop packed with books, prints, cards and cartoon ephemera, and a Young Artists’ Gallery with facilities for drawing and learning about cartoons, children¹s and adult cartooning, animation classes and family fun days.
* The 4000 books in The Heneage Library, is available, by appointment, for browsing and research as well as a dedicated comics library upstairs.
...and over 250 original cartoons over two floors!
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