Quentin Blake has been drawing ever since he can remember. He has always made his living as an illustrator, though for many years he taught at the Royal College of Art, where he was Head of the Illustration Department from 1978 to1986. He is known for his collaborations with writers such as Russell Hoban, John Yeoman, and most famously Roald Dahl. He has also illustrated classic books for adults and created much-loved characters of his own such as MISTER MAGNOLIA and MRS ARMITAGE. MISTER MAGNOLIA was winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1988; ALL JOIN IN won the Kurt Maschler Award in 1990; and CLOWN achieved the International Bologna Ragazzi Prize in 1996. He has also curated exhibitions (at the National Gallery, and the Petit Palais in Paris, among others) and is the founder of the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, the UK’s flagship centre for the artform, planned to open in Islington in 2025.
Quentin Blake was made an OBE in 1988, and, in the words of The Guardian, was ‘already a national institution’ when he was appointed the first ever Children’s Laureate in 1999. In the spring of 2002 he was named Illustrator of the Year in the Hans Christian Andersen Awards, and collected his CBE in 2005.
Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake's collaboration is one of the most famous in children's literature, and 2017 saw the publication of BILLY AND THE MINPINS (Penguin), the final Blake/Dahl collaboration. 'A new Roald Dahl character to draw, nearly 40 years after my first' (Quentin Blake on illustrating 'Billy and the Minpins') I was reassured to know that the original version(illustrated by Partick Benson)was to be kept in print. Although my text was to be identical, it was going to be called ..[by] the alternative title that appears in Roald’s handwriting on the original manuscript.’
2021 saw the publication of MR FILKINS IN THE DESERT, the story of a nonagenarian navigating the challenges of a desert crossing to celebrate his birthday with family and friends. A popular series of books filled with the adventures of the mischievous THREE LITTLE MONKEYS has seen Quentin move into the role of author, with illustrations provided by his long-time friend and collaborator, Emma Chichester Clark.
The Platinum Jubilee Honours list in 2022 appointed Quentin as a Companion of Honour (CH). Receiving the award, Quentin commented: ‘There are instructions that go with the award and these explain that this is not only an acknowledgment of what you have done so far, but – and this is the interesting part – you have to go on and do more.’ In supporting his chosen charities and brining wholly new series of works to exhibition, Quentin continues to do just that.
