Quentin Blake (b.1932)
The World of Hats
Quentin Blake (b.1932)
The World of Hats
2018

Chinagraph pencil, sketchbook paper, signed.
294 x 198mm
Framed

Created for a 2018 exhibition at the Jerwood Gallery, Hastings. Of this series, Quentin said: 'I have been aware for a long time of the decorative possibilities of hats [...] once started, I was so taken with the activity that whenever I felt like drawing something it turned out to be another hat. While I was at work on the series I also discovered Windsor & Newton watercolour markers which gave me extra motivation of experimenting with them. By the time I persuaded myself to stop I discovered I had a collection of well over a hundred drawings.

All sorts of objects and activities appear on the hats, and I am often not quite sure if the wearers are aware of them. Perhaps the most interesting hats for me are those where yet another face appears – it’s almost like seeing a mask and the face behind it at the same time. I came to feel eventually that the hats have taken on a sort of like of their own. Some of them clearly waving; I hope that one or two may even be waving at you'.

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