Quentin Blake Roald Dahl illustrations up for auction

Now, freshly drawn, and reimagined versions of the 91-year-old's "old friends" will go under the hammer to raise funds for the new Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in Islington.

Illustrations of Charlie Bucket, Matilda Wormwood, The BFG, George Kranky, The Grand High Witch and Mr Fox will be auctioned at Bonhams from March 4 to 14.

The 12 illustrations include Fantastic Mr Fox and are newly drawn with some reimagined by Quentin Blake (Image: © The Roald Dahl Story Company, Quentin Blake 2024)

Blake also wrote story books himself, and images of Patrick and Mr Magnolia will bring back many happy childhood memories.

With guide prices of £3,000 to £8,000, it's hoped A Dozen New Drawings of Old Friends: A Fundraising sale for Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration will help realise the dream of opening a new national centre for illustration in a former waterworks at New River Head, Clerkenwell.

Quentin Blake's illustration of Matilda has a guide price of £6,000-£8,000 (Image: © The Roald Dahl Story Company, Quentin Blake 2024)

The the UK's only charity for illustration received a donation in 2019 to buy the derelict industrial site, and has been in dialogue with local communities and Islington Council to restore it.

Due to open in 2025, the centre will celebrate the art that we experience in our everyday lives in all its forms, empowering people of all ages to tell their stories via school workshops, exhibitions, courses and resources.

Bonhams head of sale Catherine King said: “Quentin Blake is one of the world’s most loved illustrators, and, for many, his work was first introduced to them through his drawings of Roald Dahl’s famous children’s characters.

Illustration of George Kranky from George's Marvellous Medicine has a guide price of £5,000-£7,000 (Image: © The Roald Dahl Story Company, Quentin Blake 2024)

"It is a real privilege to be able to offer these new drawings of old friends, bringing together once again the genius of Quentin Blake and Roald Dahl, all in aid of a good cause. Not only that, but Blake has also redrawn some of his own most beloved original characters, giving this sale a real sense of all the fictional friends that we are so grateful Quentin has shared with us."Mr Magnolia is a character from Quentin Blake's own story book (Image: © The Roald Dahl Story Company, Quentin Blake 2024)

Lindsey Glen, director of Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, said: “It’s exciting to see Quentin bring these well-known, beloved characters back to life after so many years.

"The auction of these 12 very special drawings will support the campaign for a permanent national centre for illustration – a project that sprung from Quentin’s vision for a place where people could come to examine visual storytelling and communication."

Opening in Clerkenwell next year, the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration will offer exhibitions of illustration from around the world, community and schools programmes, and a home for Quentin’s extraordinary 40,000-work archive.