Tuesday, 25 June 2019

The Cartoon Museum is Back

The Cartoon Museum, which closed last year when rising rents forced it out of its former home in Little Russell St, is back - and better than ever.

Last night the Cartoon Museum re-opened at its new home at 63 Wells St in Fitzrovia, a roomy basement space dedicated to the history of British cartooning. The exhibition was curated by The Guardian's Steve Bell, and the new collection was introduced by Kenneth Baker (who dropped in to visit us at Escape Studios a while back).

Baker explained that cartooning is one of the few art forms that can be claimed to be a very British invention - as the first country to end censorship in the 18th Century, political satire was born, alongside a free press.

Gillray: caricature of the Prince of Wales (1794)
About the Cartoon Museum
The Cartoon Museum is a London museum located at 63 Wells St, Fitzrovia, dedicated to the art of cartoons, caricatures, comic strips and animation. It is owned and operated by the Cartoon Art Trust, who also host the annual Cartoon Art Trust Awards.

The museum has a collection of over 1,700 original cartoons and prints, ranging from James Gillray and William Hogarth in the 18th Century to the Beano, Viz and Spitting Image.

The original Cartoon Museum, co-founded by cartoonist Oliver Preston, was opened on 23 February 2006, by The Duke of Edinburgh.

Mission
The museum's mission is to "preserve the best of British cartoons, caricatures, comics and animation, and to establish a museum with a gallery, archives and innovative exhibitions to make the creativity of cartoon art past and present, accessible to all for the purposes of education, research and enjoyment."

Fortunately for our students, the Cartoon Museum's new home is a ten minute walk from Escape Studios. Below is a short video by Private Eye Editor Ian Hislop.



The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our BA/MArt in 3D Animation, follow this link. To apply for our storyboarding evening class, visit this page here. For the next 12 week animation course, click here

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