In 1982, Roald Dahl sent Quentin Blake a parcel containing a single sandal, explaining it was what the BFG should wear. This changed the giant's iconic look, and Dahl later admitted that Blake's illustration is what comes to mind when thinking of the BFG. Across 18 books, Blake gave visual life to beloved characters like Matilda and the Twits.
But Blake's work extends far beyond Dahl. Britain's first Children's Laureate, a knight, and a Companion of Honour, he has illustrated or written over 500 books, with global sales exceeding 45 million. He has created murals for hospitals, artwork for prisons, and collaborated with authors including Michael Rosen and Michael Morpurgo. At 93, he continues to draw daily.
This month, the £12.5m Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration opens in Islington, north London, housed in a former Victorian waterworks. Its inaugural exhibition, 'Quentin Blake: Performance', features over 100 works exploring theatre through illustration, including circus and Shakespeare. Artistic director Olivia Ahmad says, 'For Quentin, a blank sheet of paper is like an empty stage.'
Blake's style is instantly recognisable: windmilling hands, retroussé noses, dot eyes, and quivering lines with bleeding watercolour. His characters dart and spin with kinetic energy. Born in Sidcup in 1932, he studied English at Cambridge and taught at the Royal College of Art. His partnership with Dahl was impactful but complex; Blake recently said of Dahl's antisemitism, 'I probably disagreed with everything he thought.'
