The House of Illustration was founded by Sir Quentin Blake in July 2014. Located in King’s Cross, London, it holds the distinction of being the UK’s first and only public gallery dedicated to illustration and graphic arts. The gallery's mission is to showcase, celebrate, and explore illustration in all its forms, curating ten different exhibitions each year. The House of Illustration not only exhibits collections from various countries, fields, and time periods but also hosts events, talks, and educational programs for all ages, featuring professional illustrators as guests.

The House of Illustration was founded by Sir Quentin Blake in July 2014. Located in King’s Cross, London, it holds the distinction of being the UK’s first and only public gallery dedicated to illustration and graphic arts. The gallery's mission is to showcase, celebrate, and explore illustration in all its forms, curating ten different exhibitions each year.

The House of Illustration not only exhibits collections from various countries, fields, and time periods but also hosts events, talks, and educational programs for all ages, featuring professional illustrators as guests. To achieve this, the gallery's team frequently collaborates with a wide range of illustrators, experts, and collection owners. However, despite this extensive collaboration, the spaces cannot be rented by other organizations for public exhibitions. The staff is always on the lookout for emerging illustrators and unexplored works, with the aim of revealing new and unexpected insights into this particular art form.

Eager to learn more about this unique gallery, I wrote an email to the in-house team, who put me in touch with the curator, Olivia Ahmad, who kindly agreed to an interview. I had many questions to ask, but due to time constraints, I summarized them into four key inquiries. First, I was curious to know what motivated Blake to establish an illustration gallery. Secondly, I asked Ms. Ahmad whether she believes it is necessary for illustration to be exhibited in museums, similar to fine art, and whether such exhibitions are typically driven by commercial or print-related motives. My next question focused on the differences between a fine art museum and an illustration exhibition. Lastly, I quoted a sentence from a 2003 interview in The Guardian with Blake and asked her if she agreed with his statement.

At the end of the interview, I must admit I was rather surprised—some aspects of the House of Illustration turned out to be different from what I had initially imagined, and the reasons for its existence are truly noble. Initially, based on external rumors, I thought these types of exhibitions had commercial purposes, aiming to promote and sell the artists’ works in book or print formats. However, the House of Illustration’s main goal is purely to showcase and spread knowledge about this particular art form. As Ms. Ahmad explained, while it would be possible to create a printed book of the artworks for people to view, this would not be done for commercial purposes. Artists or organizations cannot rent space as they might at art galleries like Galerie Karouzou in Zurich or at an art fair—artists and exhibitions are carefully selected by the curator to represent various aspects of both historic and contemporary illustration from the UK and many other countries.

Ms. Ahmad helped me understand that due to its ubiquitous presence, illustration often goes unnoticed—books, textiles, advertisements, instructions, and more are all part of our daily routine. Paradoxically, it is precisely for this reason that illustration is an important part of our culture, as it encapsulates and expresses various aspects of society. Simply by observing it, one can gain a detailed understanding of a particular culture, not only in terms of public customs and traditions but also habits, language, and more. Illustration needs to be exhibited in museums and galleries not only for the beauty of the artwork itself but also for the cultural heritage it represents.

In terms of presentation, I believe the main difference between a painting and an illustration is that the latter, often being part of a sequence, needs to be displayed alongside the rest of the images in the series and therefore cannot be fully appreciated in isolation through the glass of a frame. To address this, the House of Illustration groups the artworks by series, creating easy-to-follow sequences whether they are framed or displayed on bulletin boards.

If I were to compare the House of Illustration with the renowned National Gallery in London, I could highlight numerous differences in terms of space, management, and the subjects on display. However, there is one particular similarity that unites them, along with the majority of museums and art galleries: the act of sharing knowledge.

Regardless of the popularity or type of cultural exhibition—whether artistic, scientific, or historical—the primary goal remains the same. The House of Illustration is no exception—as confirmed by the curator, Sir Quentin Blake wanted to create a public space where people could freely observe and appreciate illustrative artworks, thereby broadening their understanding of a subject that, despite being omnipresent, they may have never taken the time to fully appreciate.