TENNIEL, John - White Rabbit
Looking in Wonderland
10th November 2011 to 30th December 2011
Sir John Tenniel’s illustrations to the Alice books.
A Graphicus Touring exhibition.
This winter some of the best loved illustrations in the world are on display in the north east of Scotland for the first time. Visitors to Duff House in Banff will be treated to a selection of Sir John Tenniel's illustrations to Lewis Carroll's two Alice books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice found there.
The initial story of Alice and her adventures had been made up by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) for the daughters of the Dean of Christ Church College Oxford during a boating trip on the 4th July 1862. As legend has it, at the request of one of them, Alice Liddell, Dodgson wrote out the story of a little girl who dreamt that she went down a rabbit hole into Wonderland where she met an amazing set of characters, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the King and Queen of Hearts, the Mock Turtle, the Cheshire Cat, and found herself in some awfully weird situations.
Dodgson's story, published in 1865 under the name Lewis Carroll, as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, was an instant hit with children and adults alike, as was the sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice found there, published seven years later. From the very start it was agreed that a major part of their success was due to the unique and imaginative illustrations supplied to the text by the artist John Tenniel. Despite there now being over one hundred artists who have illustrated "Alice", Tenniel's illustrations remain the definitive ones.
John Tenniel spent his life in London where he worked as a political cartoonist for Punch magazine, but in 1864 he was approached by Lewis Carroll, actually an Oxford mathematics don whose real name was Charles Dodgson, with the request to illustrate a small nonsense book for children he wished to publish.
This exhibition is a selection of the best illustrations from both books, about half of the complete number, in which the creative talents of both Carroll and Tenniel is shown at its best. The original drawings were made on wooden blocks and then engraved by commercial engravers in London and the prints on show, printed directly from the original wood blocks, are perfect examples of the skill of both illustrator and engraver. Details of the Alice activities programme will be online shortly.
