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The charming, maverick genius of illustrator Heath Robinson is being celebrated at The Cartoon Museum in London.

Pictured (right): Deceiving the invader as to the state of the tide.

Heath Robinson’s Helpful Solutions is the largest exhibition of William Heath Robinson’s (1872-1844) humorous drawings for 15 years. It includes over 100 original drawings and sketches by the man who is one of the few artists whose name has entered the Oxford English Dictionary to signify ‘any absurdly ingenious and impracticable device’.

"I really have a secret satisfaction in being considered rather mad, when, actually, I am playing the part of an Artist who strains, with all his powers, to suggest the absolute conviction, logic and solid reality of the things he portrays." - William Heath Robinson, talking about his illustration work.

Quirky, Absurd, Ingenious

This exhibition displays many of the quirky, absurd and ingenious solutions that Heath Robinson developed to assist his earnest cast of characters. A top-hatted gentleman in his long-johns carries out a precarious rescue of a damsel in distress, an engine driver stops to assist a stranded eel, a new method is devised for stuffing a turkey and a novel system proposed for testing mattresses: no matter how perilous or tricky the problem Heath Robinson could be sure to offer a helpful solution.

Pictured (left): Carrying out the correspondence course for mountain climbing in the home.

Heath Robinson came into his own during the First World War. He acknowledged that the war with its ‘many terrifying inventions, gave me one of the best opportunities I ever enjoyed’. He turned his fertile imagination to devising a whole range of ingenious methods to assist British Tommies and undermine the ‘frightfulness’ and efficiency of the ‘Saintly Hun’. He was deluged by letters of appreciation from men on the front, many offering suggestions for new cartoons, others requesting solutions to the problems of army life, such as could Mr. Heath Robinson devise a biscuit-testing machine to save human labour. He always did his best to respond.

In the 1920s and 1930s he continued to be in great demand by magazines and advertisers and improvised thousands of fantasies executed with such conviction they tempt us to believe that they could actually work – but only in the fantastical world of the master of madcap invention: Heath Robinson.

"During the Second World War the artist turned his attention to the Home Front. In thousands of cartoons and books he boosted morale by showing how British pluck and guile could overcome the threat of Nazi invasion by clever deception and camouflage. The inconveniences of blackouts and rationing all prompted Heath-Robinsonish suggestions for ‘how to make the best of things’ and win the war.

Heath Robinson is quintessentially English. His is ‘the good-tempered pencil’ that is not cruel or unkind but which gently mocks with a straight face and a mischievous gleam in the eye.

The exhibition of Heath Robinson's original artwork is at London's Cartoon Museum at 35 Little Russell Street, a stone's throw from The British Museum - well worth a visit in it's own right for anyone interested in graphic art - exhibits the very finest examples of British cartoons, caricature and comic art from the 18th century to the present day. The Museum id open Tuesday – Saturday, 10.30 – 17.30 and Sundays between 12 noon – 17.30, admission is £4.00 for adults (£3 concessions) and is fee to under 18s and students.

For more information about Heath Robinson visit the official site of the William Heath Robinson Trust has - established to conserve and exhibit his collected works by his daughter - at: www.heathrobinson.org

Heath Robinson’s Helpful Solutions is at The Cartoon Museum until 7 October. The exhibition is accompanied by a 144 page catalogue with text by Simon Heneage, priced £14.95.

All images are reproduced by kind permissions of Pollinger Limited and the Estate of J. C. Robinson. Copyright © the Estate of J. C. Robinson.

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