Moyse’s Hall Museum, in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, to stage Quentin Blake: The Illustrated Hospital exhibition featuring pieces he did for hospitals and healthcare settings

There's a rare opportunity to see a large collection of pieces by one of the nation’s favourite artists when Moyse's Hall Museum hosts the Quentin Blake: The Illustrated Hospital exhibition this summer.

The display has been co-curated with Quentin Blake’s team and the West Suffolk Council run museum. Open from June 4 until October 6, some of the illustrations have never been on public display before.

Since 2005, Quentin Blake’s drawings for hospitals and healthcare settings have become a significant part of his work. Because of their clinical function, many of the spaces are not easily accessible to visitors, so relatively few people - only patients and hospital staff - may get the chance to see them.

Created in Quentin Blake’s instantly recognisable style, the drawings provide something for everyone. With swimming babies, helpful dragons, treetop adventures and poignant landscapes, there are plenty of unexpected delights to discover in Quentin Blake’s Illustrated Hospital.

Quentin Blake was born in the suburbs of London in 1932 and has drawn ever since he can remember. His first drawings were published in Punch while he was 16 and still at school. He is known for his collaboration with writers such as Russell Hoban, Joan Aiken, Michael Rosen, John Yeoman and, most famously, Roald Dahl. In the last few years he has begun to make larger-scale work for hospitals and healthcare settings in the UK and France.

His books have won numerous prizes and awards. In 1999 he was appointed the first ever Children’s Laureate, was created a CBE in 2005 and has numerous honorary degrees from universities throughout the UK. He received a knighthood for ‘services to illustration’ in the New Year’s Honours for 2013, became an Honorary Freeman of the City of London in 2015 and was appointed Companion of Honour in The Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2022.

One of the most important exhibitions at Moyse’s Hall, it further enhances the attraction’s growing reputation for punching way above its weight for a provincial museum. The Moments and Urban Frame: Mutiny in Colour contemporary art exhibitions attracted a combined audience of over 50,000 visitors with their original pieces by Banksy, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and others.

Moyse’s Hall’s Illustrated Hospital exhibition is being supported with workshops that will see young and old explorers create dragons and other characters inspired by Blake’s work.

Folksy Theatres is also presenting an outdoor performance of Theatre in the Parks Quentin Blake: Angelica Sprocket's Pockets at West Stow Anglo Saxon Village, near Bury St Edmunds, on Friday, August 9 at midday. Based on the artist’s popular book, the fun-filled family play will reveal some of the marvellous things Angelica kept in her never-ending pockets.

Quentin Blake: The Illustrated Hospital exhibition is open to the public seven days a week from June 4 until October 6. Timed tickets can be booked online at www.moyseshall.org/whats-on, by calling 01284 758000, and can also be purchased at the museum.

Admission is £5 adults, £4.50 concessions (60+), £3 child 5-16 years, under 5s free. Moyse’s Hall is open Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm (last entry at 4pm) and Sunday midday-4pm (last entry 3pm). All Quentin Blake tickets include access to the full museum collection.