Brian Wildsmith Exhibition, Barnsley. Part 2

Following on from post 1 for the Brian Wildsmith exhibition in Barnsley the other week, here is post 2.

The exhibition is spread over two spaces, The Cooper Gallery (covered in post 1) and Experience Barnsley beneath the impressive Town Hall. Each about a 5 minute walk from one another and both about a 10 minute walk from the main station Barnsley Interchange. The Experience Barnsley side of the exhibition, centres around Brian’s early life, his training, family and work.

Just one of his major award triumphs was winning the Kate Greenaway Medal for his book ‘ABC’ in 1962, (now called The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal) it was the only award in the UK to solely reward outstanding illustration in a children’s book.

I don’t wish to rewrite all the wealth of information you can discover on Brian’s Website, as his family have created a masterpiece and it is worth spending some time discovering Brian’s story for yourself. You can also see an earlier post I wrote back in 2015 here.

How lovely to see this early drawing of Jack the Dog, from his days at the Slade School of Fine Art and subsequently some of Brian’s early Book jacket designs.

A few black and white, detailed illustrations.

Again, so special to be able to appreciate the family home and visualise where Brian would have sat to create many of his beautiful books.

Brian with his family, Simon, Rebecca, Anna, Brian and Clare. Also with his wife, Aurélie.

Through my website, I have been friends with Clare and Simon Wildsmith for the last 9 years. So this was the perfect opportunity to catch up with them in person and spend a little time talking about Brian’s work, parents generally and our lives today. They very kindly arranged for me to take a signed print of my all time fav illustration of Brians featuring these two Owls. Now I can be reminded of the Wildsmiths every day : ) Thank you again for a fab day’s catch up.

I can’t recommend this exhibition enough. It’s fab, it’s free and after two years of planning it’s finally here until January 4th 2025. Go see and tell me how much you loved it.

Further exciting news from Simon about a new site with Brian’s Cards, Prints, Tote Bags and other merchandise to be released soon. Watch this space. The final word should go to Brian himself…

“Our children are our inheritance and our future. They are the building blocks of our civilisations, and we are inclined sometimes to forget this important and crucial fact. It is important to remember that at birth a child’s soul is like an empty book in which anything may be written. Let us sharpen our wits and pencils and make sure that what we write and paint will fly the child into a world of joy and wonder and imagination. We must write in those books about love, humour, compassion, truth, understanding, justice… profitable wonders that will determine how our children will develop and help build a happier and more peaceful world.” Brian Wildsmith 2008