The Quentin Blake A Retrospective is running at Christies from the 3rd to the 12th July, and includes 178 lots from Quentin Blake’s personal collection, being offered at live auction and an online sale. The sales comprise works from the past 40 years of his career, including illustrations of characters that have captured the imaginations of generations of children. Highlights include works for The Enormous Crocodile, Dahl’s first book to be illustrated by Blake, and preliminary drawings for The Big Friendly Giant, one of his best-loved creations. These are presented alongside further children’s favourites by Dahl, including Fantastic Mr Fox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory  and James and the Giant Peach.

This is a really great collection and we expect some of the more popular sketches to make many times their estimate.

In a retrospective spanning 40 years, Sir Quentin Blake has chosen from his personal collection a wealth of illustrations to be offered to benefit three charities: The House of Illustration, Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity and Survival International. The works comprise ‘Alternative Versions’, preliminary drawings, and related artwork for many of Quentin Blake’s best-loved projects which will be immediately recognisable to multiple generations of children and their parents. Alongside very many pieces from his collaboration with Roald Dahl – which defined an era in children’s book illustration – there is artwork for his own books and those of other authors, including illustrations for Folio Society editions of classics such as Candide and Don Quixote. A wonderful variety of Alternative Versions from Quentin’s work for hospitals – including St George’s, Tooting and Angers University Hospital – and for public exhibitions completes the collection.

For more details visit Christies.com