Most people know Mervyn Peake for his Gormenghast Trilogy, but few venture beyond those books to discover his talent for drawing and painting. He was an illustrator as well as a writer, bringing to life on paper the products of his extraordinary imagination. I would definitely recommend reading Letters from a Lost Uncle, a fantastically strange and often hilarious series of typed and illustrated 'letters' written by an Arctic explorer to his nephew. It is a work of genius.
I received a notification this morning of a new exhibition of some of the work of Mervyn Peake and his wife Maeve Gilmore, to be held from 9th July until 28th August at Viktor Wynd Fine Art in London. The gallery is associated with the Last Tuesday Society, which you should check out if you're a Londoner - pretty weird and interesting stuff to join in with, if that's your kind of thing.
Images courtesy of Viktor Wynd Fine Art, The Last Tuesday Society, and an unknown source (for the Letters image) on Flickr.
I am off to Italy tomorrow for a week, so it's goodbye until then. I hope to resume more regular blogging once I return - hopefully the work will ease off a bit for the summer and I can spend more time doing my own thing. Pigs might fly.
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Also I never realised he illustrated some classic Alice in Wonderland books. There's a wonderful cabinet in the showcase bit of the British Library. I think his illustrations perfectly captured the characters! Its quite funny as I didn't really like Gormenghast but like his illustration.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy Italy. I'm house hunting tomorrow. Exciting stuff-will keep you posted and of course you will be my first invitees to tea in the new place!
Ooh. I shall have a look for this cabinet next time I'm around the British Library. Sounds lovely. I liked Gormenghast, but I only read the first book, which I loved. Somehow I never got round to reading the rest.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the house hunt! Hope you find somewhere nice! x
Cool - I had no idea Mervyn Peake illustrated, too. I enjoyed Gormenghast, but do you recall that BBC adaptation a few years back? Good in parts but I cannot be doing with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. Regardless the part he plays (King Henry VIII, whatever) I just want to slap his smug face. Wow, I sound angry don't I?! :D
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