Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration image

Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration

Art gallery โ€ข Education center โ€ข Arts organization

Venue for illustration in all forms, from adverts to animation, picture books to political cartoons. People often mention gallery, Quentin, exhibitions, Blake, great, small, exhibition, shop, work, artists,


Address

Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration To the right of, 28 Amwell St, London EC1R 1XU, United Kingdom

Website

www.qbcentre.org.uk

Contact

+44 20 8150 7100

Rating on Google Maps

4.30 (227 reviews)

Open on Google Maps

Featured Reviews


Frequently mentioned in reviews: gallery (14) Quentin (12) exhibitions (12) Blake (11) great (11) small (11) exhibition (10) shop (8) work (8) artists (7)
Reviews are sorted by relevance, prioritizing the most helpful and insightful feedback at the top for easier reference.
  • 4/5 Angus H. 2 years ago on Google โ€ข 320 reviews
    New River Head is a collection of 17 and 18 century buildings designed to move the water brought in to London by the New River on to new locations. The base of a windmill used to pump the water is still there as is the old engine house and the coal store. The buildings are to become the new Quentin Blake House of Illustration in 2023. The site is not usually open but it may be possible to arrange a visit by contacting the staff at HOI. I thought it was fascinating.
    3 people found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Karl 1. 4 years ago on Google
    The House of Illustration is a public art gallery in London devoted to illustration. Opened in 2014 and founded by Sir Quentin Blake, the gallery is located at 2 Granary Square in the London Borough of Camden. Exhibitions display the art of illustration in many forms, including advertisements, animation, comic books and manga, children's literature and picture books, political cartoons, scientific illustrations and fashion design. Artists featured in exhibitions include established and upcoming artists, including Quentin Blake, E.H. Shepard, Lauren Child, Paula Rego, Hattie Stewart and David Lemm. One exhibition featured over 120 original illustrations that appeared in Ladybird Books titles, in celebration of the publisher's 100th anniversary.The gallery's building was designed by Lewis Cubitt in 1850 and was part of the Kingโ€™s Cross Goods Yard. The building is part of the King's Cross Central project, and has been restored, standing alongside Central Saint Martins in the neighbouring Granary Building.
    3 people found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Theo L. 4 years ago on Google
    Saved the day. I had travelled from Nottingham to buy some Quentin Blake goods for my wife on our first wedding anniversary but as I walked in the gift shop was full of staff members having a training session and the building was closed for the day, I explained my situation and the lovely manager helped me to find what I needed quickly and with a smile. I am so grateful my wife loved the print and book. Thank you!
    3 people found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Jeanette W. 4 years ago on Google
    Great little museum. Very easy to access. Brilliant kind staff. Thank you for making our trip so pleasant.
    2 people found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Lauren R. 5 years ago on Google โ€ข 166 reviews
    Really enjoyed the gallery, I expected to see some of Quentin Blakeโ€™s cartoon drawings but there were only still life drawings that he had done. The exhibition on refugees was amazing and very moving. I wasnโ€™t too keen on the other. The gift shop is lovely.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Helen T. 5 years ago on Google โ€ข 132 reviews
    I recently visited the House of Illustration to see the Enid Marx exhibition and my tickets covered entry to those rooms as well as the ones showing work by Quentin Blake and John Vernon Lloyd. It is great value and would have been even better if I had remembered my Art Fund card. I have visited previously to see a really interesting show about Russian picture book art and it seems that the gallery are aiming to provide thought-provoking shows. The shop has a great selection of cards, books and gifts and can be accessed without purchasing an entrance ticket.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 4/5 Kia S. 5 years ago on Google โ€ข 299 reviews
    This is a lovely little gallery in the heart of kings cross. Itโ€™s quite small so plan other things around it but itโ€™s got a great vibe and our 8 year old loved it. Their worksheets are really fantastic and good fun to work through together. The market outside is great to walk around and Granary Square in the summer is great!

  • 5/5 Keisha Amponsa B. 4 years ago on Google โ€ข 101 reviews
    I want to come again and again and again! Off the beaten track gallery, just the way I like them. Great exhibitions on this January. Can't wait to see what more they have in store over 2020
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Winsome Y. 5 years ago on Google โ€ข 67 reviews
    Amazing museum, which displays work from a range of illustrative artists. There are always 2 artists that have their work exhibited at the same time. You will see paintings, posters, drawings, books, leaflets and newspapers. Anything that is illustrated. The staff are really friendly here and it is located in a beautiful location not far from King's Cross Station, it is next to the river with places around to grab food.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 3/5 Rebecca 4 years ago on Google โ€ข 59 reviews
    I had been looking forward to visiting the Quentin Blake exhibition for a couple of months. On my recent trip to London, I got the chance to visit the House of Illustration and unfortunately I was quite disappointed. The gallery is very small and it is overpriced considering the lack of exhibits. Iโ€™m glad I saw the Quentin Blake exhibition, even if it wasnโ€™t particularly sizeable, but I wonโ€™t be returning again.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 3/5 Rufus Y. 4 years ago on Google
    Fine exhibition, but poor labelling (both in legibility - brown? - and occasionally re items - a positional key?... Slight ironic amusement in the way they seek to sell fairly expensive reproductions of these works, designed for cheap reproduction and free distribution - in the gift shop. That's the hipster world, I guess. But a good exhibition of important work.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Alice C. 4 years ago on Google
    Beautiful
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Diana B. 4 years ago on Google
    Great venue, convenient location, and fascinating exhibitions. Not too large or expensive. Very manageable, with excellent restaurants nearby.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Leanne M. 4 years ago on Google
    Good galleries, curated well. Love the shop too!
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 4/5 Ben H. 4 years ago on Google
    Great shop!
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Richard T. 4 years ago on Google
    Staff are amazing
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Paul W. 4 years ago on Google
    Wonderful small gallery with rotating exhibits of work by cartoonists and illustrators ( the name is a clue). Easy to get to. Manageable size (I fade after about an hour or so of museum, the exhibits meet that requirement very well) Close to St. Pancras, Kings Cross, the British Library.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 2/5 Elena ๏ฟฝ. 4 years ago on Google
    The collection is so small. Dissapointing! Why not to show a bit more for 7-8 pounds? 4 rooms, not many artworks... a waste of time.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 McWesty Pat M. 4 years ago on Google
    The shop is amazing!
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Karen 4 years ago on Google
    Lovely small gallery and helpful staff.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 4/5 Kiron P. 4 years ago on Google
    Yet to explore the exhibition, but I loved and even bought some of the excellent works of Quentin Blake from the store. Will be visiting again! โค๏ธ
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Valerie H. 4 years ago on Google
    I have seen some excellent exhibitions here. Lovely space. Nice little shop too.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 frรฉdรฉrique neuts l. 4 years ago on Google
    Great exhibit
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 4/5 Linda L. 4 years ago on Google
    Interesting and unusual exhibitions in a small and well run gallery.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Bill E. 4 years ago on Google
    First time here today. What took me so long!? Amazing pair of exhibitions on at the moment. Completely mind blowing exhibition of data visualisations from the late 19th century โ€“ look like they're from the 1950s. And a fantastic exhibition of posters from Cuba dating from the '60s. Fantastic!
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 A J. 4 years ago on Google
    A little space tucked by the UAL and what a joy it was. We went to see the "Designed in Cuba, Cold war graphics" exhibit which was as enlightening as it was bold and tragic. So many assinations, imprisonments and brutality in the name of capitalism and empire. There are so many countries beyond Cuba that tried to do more for their people and most were brutally crushed, murdered or oppressed by the IMF controlled so called democratic, capitalist countries.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 5/5 Sarah P. 4 years ago on Google โ€ข 25 reviews
    Although it's only small, it always has great exhibitions focused on drawings and illustration. A rely unique place :)
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 2/5 Matt L. 6 years ago on Google
    Very small gallery with very little illustrations but with a big entry fee.
    1 person found this review helpful ๐Ÿ‘

  • 4/5 ebony 4 years ago on Google
    Nice

  • 5/5 Sarah 4 years ago on Google
    Created by illustrator Quentin Blakes. Lot of small art exhibitions to see. Throughly enjoyable !

  • 3/5 Gerda Z. 4 years ago on Google
    (Translated by Google) Too bad, you have to buy entrance tickets here ... so on English ... (Original) Jammer, je moet hier entree tickets kopen...zo on Engels...

  • 5/5 Harriet E. 4 years ago on Google
    I love this gallery. Small and cosy, but always packed with fantastic art and innovative layouts. I especially love the little room of Quentin Blake art.

  • 3/5 Barbara G. 4 years ago on Google
    (Translated by Google) The price of tickets is inadequate (too high) to the number of exhibits. (Original) Cena biletรณw nieadekwatna (zbyt wysoka) do iloล›ci eksponatรณw.

  • 4/5 Steve E. 4 years ago on Google
    Nifty little place. Set up by Quentin Blake, former RCA Illustration prof, and others to house shows of the graphic figuration that artists working outside of Fine Art produce. It's a smaller venue than the work that fills deserves but it's sorely needed. The current shows include a retrospective of comic strips, illustration and graphic novels by Post Simmonds who really should have had several by now. So it's a great exercise in catch up, just round the corner from the relatively new home to Central St Martin's College. Coming out of the Simmonds show , everyone in the streets looked as though they were potential raw material for one her comic stories - which is as much a testament to how she puts into her work as to the House of Illustration and it's environs. However, it's a positive moment. It's the kind of place that could be wholly devoted to one subject - let's say, for example, a Le Dernier Cri retrospective - but this just shows how much it's needed.

  • 4/5 Alex B. 5 years ago on Google
    Tiny gallery good variety of different artists

  • 5/5 Sally- A. 4 years ago on Google
    Love this place

  • 5/5 Jade P. 3 years ago on Google
    Always love the temporary exhibitions and their christmas fair, so many talented artists!

  • 4/5 Louie M. 4 years ago on Google
    Nice small gallery with good featured artists

  • 1/5 bella E. 4 years ago on Google
    Quite minimal and boring, shouldn't charge

  • 5/5 billie g. 4 years ago on Google
    Was great visiting here...very interesting artwork

  • 5/5 Edouard G. 4 years ago on Google
    Jan 2020: all three exhibitions were of great interest.

  • 5/5 Shane E. 4 years ago on Google
    Outstanding small museum. Two magnificent temporary exhibitions when I visited.

  • 5/5 Viktoria J. 4 years ago on Google
    Loved it! Great place to spend time !

  • 2/5 Mike D. 4 years ago on Google
    Really not much there, and not worth the entrance cost in my opinion.

  • 5/5 FCSB e S. 4 years ago on Google
    Nice place.

  • 5/5 Bill N. 4 years ago on Google
    Fabulous! Really friendly staff and great exhibitions! Very highly recommended!!

  • 4/5 Megan T. 4 years ago on Google
    Small, and therefore a bit pricey considering how quickly you will move through it. Still really quaint and well set-out, making it a great stop for appreciators of illustration.


Call +44 20 8150 7100 Open on Google Maps

Amenities


  • Accessibility
    • โœ“๏ธ Wheelchair accessible entrance
    • โœ“๏ธ Wheelchair accessible restroom
    • โœ“๏ธ Wheelchair accessible parking lot

Trends



Last updated:

Similar Education centers nearby

Tate Modern image
1
Tate Modern
Art gallery
Modern-art gallery with international works on display, plus a cafe with panoramic river views.
4.50 (73.1K reviews)
Victoria and Albert Museum image
2
Victoria and Albert Museum
Art museum
Blockbuster exhibitions and permanent decorative arts collection, with design shop and ornate cafe.
4.70 (55.3K reviews)
The National Gallery image
3
The National Gallery
Art museum
Trafalgar Square art museum whose masterworks trace the development of Western European painting.
4.70 (47.9K reviews)
National Portrait Gallery image
4
National Portrait Gallery
Art gallery
Paintings and photographs of aristocratic and famous figures throughout British history.
4.70 (10.6K reviews)
Saatchi Gallery image
5
Saatchi Gallery
Art gallery
Up-and-coming and established contemporary art exhibited in 19th-century Duke of York headquarters.
4.50 (8.5K reviews)
Last updated:
()