Humour of “Gadget King” Heath Robinson exhibition opens

By John Freeman on May 23, 2022 • ( 1 )

31st May 2022 will be the 150th anniversary of the birth of William Heath Robinson, and to mark the occasion, the Heath Robinson Museum is hosting a new exhibition, The Humour of William Heath Robinson, open now, which will run until September.

"Deceiving the Invader as to the State of the Tide" | Image: William Heath Robinson Museum — *“Deceiving the Invader as to the State of the Tide” | Image: William Heath Robinson Museum*

A special event, “It’s All a Bit Heath Robinson”, for all ages, will also mark the day on 31st May.

William Heath Robinson was trained as an artist at the Royal Academy Schools, and as past exhibitions at the Museum have shown, he was a great illustrator and a highly accomplished painter in watercolours, but it is as a humorous artist that he is best known.

"The Folding Garden" by William Heath Robinson — *“The Folding Garden” by William Heath Robinson*

To mark this important anniversary, a selection of his cartoons is on display in this temporary exhibition, representing the wide range of his subjects and spanning his humorous output from 1905 to 1943.

During two World Wars Robinson deployed irony and satire to counter German propaganda and to bring a little mirth into the otherwise painful lives of servicemen and civilians. Both greatly appreciated his efforts. A similar dry humour was used to satirise the pomposity and fussiness of those who took themselves too seriously. He was modest and gentle, qualities that shine through in his humour.

*Magazine Illustration | Image: William Heath Robinson Museum*

*A Christmas Deed of Kindness by Willim Heath Robinson | Image: William Heath Robinson Museum*

Testing artificial-teeth in a modern tooth works | Image: William Heath Robinson Museum — *Testing artificial teeth in a modern tooth works | Image: William Heath Robinson Museum*

As a review of his memorial exhibition in The Times in 1945 commented, “What may be unexpected in this exhibition is the fineness of Heath Robinson’s craftsmanship – the clean and firm fluency of his pen line and the quality of his watercolour washes. Those who have known his work only in reproduction will be surprised at its technical excellence.”

It’s All a Bit Heath Robinson

In celebration of the150th anniversary of the “Gadget King” Heath Robinson’s birth, the Museum is hosting a birthday “party” for families and children.

This will be a whacky fair, where in true Gadget King fashion, art meets science, with an exhibition of Heath Robinson’s best humorous work, a display of Meccano models, art and design activities alongside all sorts of zany engineering challenges: Build the tallest structure, or fastest/ slowest/ wobbliest vehicles out of junk or K’nex. Large interactive gadgets will be demonstrated in the park too.

2022 Heath Robinson 150th Anniversary Poster

The star attraction is internet/ media sensation, Joseph Herscher of www.josephsmachines fame. Joseph will talk about his “Heath Robinson” machines and run a workshop for families/ children; who will be challenged to build their own machine (out of junk) and culminate in attempts to connect all the machines in one long transfer of energy to achieve a simple task – very Heath Robinson.

• The Humour of Heath Robinson runs at the Heath Robinson Museum until 4th September 2022 | Heath Robinson Museum, Pinner Memorial Park, 50 West End Lane, Pinner HA5 1AE | Web: www.heathrobinsonmuseum.org | Entry to the Special Exhibition is included with your museum entry ticket

Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday: The museum is open Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th June 2022 as usual

• “It’s all a bit Heath Robinson” A 150th birthday Celebration of Gadgets, Games and General Mayhem |12.00 noon – 4.00 pm 31st May 2022

• BBC News: William Heath Robinson: London exhibition celebrates cartoonist

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.