The British Cartoon Archive

A Peep into Clubland

Posted: 5 March 2009 - 9:24am

London’s Clubs have been central to London life since the late 17^th century. The Cartoon Museum has been granted unprecedented access to the collections of thirteen private London clubs for its exhibition A Peep into Clubland. On show are around 100 original cartoons and caricatures, many on public display for the first time. Each club reflects the professions and personalities of its members and over time has acquired its own distinct character. The clubs, which range from Boodle’s, founded in 1762, to Harry’s Bar, which opened in 1979, draw their members from many walks of life: artists and actors, barristers and clergymen, politicians and sportsmen, scientists and country gentlemen. 

 

A great variety of styles and media are represented in the exhibition. The selection includes prints by Hogarth and Gillray, caricatures by Beerbohm, wordless strips by H M Bateman, theatrical ‘tinsel’ prints, invitation cards by Heath Robinson and Phil May and a poster design by Ralph Steadman. There are also joke cartoons by the great New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno. One of the Bateman cartoons even inspired a scene in Hitchcock’s film The Man Who Knew Too Much.

 

The cartoons often reflect the interests and activities of the club: art and the theatre, politics, motoring or cricket. Others, however, are just very funny, and sometimes make jokes at the club’s expense. Many of the artists were not only club members, but also designed posters, invitations and menu-cards for club dinners, fancy-dress balls and ‘smoking conversaziones’. A number of works address the perennial concerns of club life, such as drink, billiards and whether to admit women as members.  There are caricatures of politicians, sportsmen, writers and royals - William Pitt, W G Grace, Henry Irving, John Gielgud, George Bernard Shaw and Edward VII are among the notable subjects.

For more information or images please contact Anita O’Brien or Kate Sargeant on 020 7631 0793. A catalogue of the exhibition is available.

The Cartoon Museum is open Tue – Sat, 10.30 – 17.30; Sun 12-17.30