Loading...
Images available here
This winter, visitors to Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village can step into the magical world of Cicely Mary Barker’s world-famous Flower Fairies in the museum’s first exhibition for children and families.
Presented in association with Penguin Random House Children’s UK, Flower Fairies™: The Magical World of Cicely Mary Barker takes visitors on a journey from the artist’s childhood to the creation of her enchanting fairy characters - with opportunities for younger visitors to play and create throughout.
At the heart of the exhibition is a display of original Flower Fairies illustrations, shown alongside Cicely Mary Barker’s original sketches and family photographs which reveal her process in creating the fairy figures that are known and loved around the world. To experience how it might feel to be a character in one of Cicely’s famous books, in this section of the exhibition there’s a chance for children to become part of the story by dressing up and entering giant-sized pages of a Flower Fairies book.
The exhibition opens with an exploration of Cicely Mary Barker’s early years. Born in 1895, Cicely and her older sister, Dorothy, grew up in Croydon. Cicely was a poorly and delicate child and, as a result, spent most of her time at home, quite often confined to her bed. To pass the time, Cicely read books and started to draw. This section of the exhibition includes examples of Cicely’s earliest pictures such as watercolour illustrations of a fairy chasing butterflies (c.1905) and cherubs circling the sun (c.1905) made before she was ten – revealing that, from an early age, fairies had captured her imagination.
Also included is photography of family life. Images from the Cicely Mary Barker archive of the family messing about at the beach, cuddling their dogs and relaxing together in the garden show what a happy childhood she had and how close they were as a family. Children visiting the exhibition can have fun peering through the windows of a doll-sized replica of Cicely’s childhood house and discovering her childhood activities, which included dressing up her pets and drawing self-portraits.
Cicely’s father, Walter Barker, was an accomplished artist and recognised his daughter’s talent. When she was thirteen, he enrolled her at the Croydon School of Art and also paid for a correspondence course in art, which she continued until the age of twenty-four. It was Cicely’s father who helped her in 1911 to sell her first piece of work – four animal illustrations included in an annual – and the next section of the exhibition explores the start of Cicely’s commercial career.
Her success as a commercial artist became more urgent following the death of her father when she was only seventeen. Determined to assist with the family finances, and with guidance from her correspondence tutor, she created sets of postcards, starting in 1915 with Children Of the Allies, followed by Shakespeare characters (1917 and 1920), Seaside Holidays (1918 and 1921) and Fairies and Elves (1918).
After the First World War there was renewed interest in fairies, with writers that Cicely was familiar with including them in new publications. Having had success with her Fairies and Elves postcards, Cicely was determined to keep supporting her family as much as possible. Using her love of writing poetry, drawing children and nature, the Flower Fairies came to life. In 1923 she sold the first of these works to Blackie and Son and the book was published in the same year. It was an instant international success.
From White Clover (1925) to Jack-go-to-Bed-at-Noon (1948), these botanically accurate drawings featuring fantastical fairies were a publishing sensation. Inspired by real children from Cicely’s neighbours or her sister’s nursery school, and showing a deep appreciation of flowers and plants nurtured by her family’s love of their garden, the Flower Fairies soon became known and loved around the world. Even Queen Mary was a fan!
Whilst most famous for the Flower Fairies, the exhibition will give visitors a chance to discover some of Cicely Mary Barker’s other works which she wrote and illustrated, notably The Lord of the Rushie River (1938), written from a dream she had as a child, and its sequel Simon the Swan, published posthumously in 1988. In this section of the exhibition children can step into scenes from both books, cosying into a swan’s nest, sitting at the hull of a rowing boat and playing a fishing game.
Tree Fairy Trail
Inspired by Cicely’s botanical illustrations and traditional folklore, families can follow a new trail through the woodland at Watts Gallery to discover some of the trees and plants that feature in the Flower Fairies. With opportunities to play and learn along the way, the trail will be a fun way for children to connect with nature.
Cicely Mary Barker and Mary Watts
Mary Watts (1849-1938) was the co-founder of Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village. Like Cicely Mary Barker, she trained and worked as an artist. In Compton, Mary created Watts Chapel and a new Smartify tour will guide visitors from Watts Gallery to Watts Chapel highlighting parallels between the two women artists, from their frequent use of floral motifs to how they incorporated the faces of real children in their images of imaginary characters. Significantly, both women were highly entrepreneurial and achieved success as commercial artists, and both artists produced work for religious buildings.
A programme of related events accompanies the exhibition, including Flower Fairies Family Days during the school holidays. For further information: wattsgallery.org.uk
Dr Laura MacCulloch, Co-curator of the exhibition at Watts Gallery - Artists' Village, said:
“We are so excited to have the chance to show so many items from the Cicely Mary Barker archive, many of which have not been on display before. Through photographs, early drawings and cards she made for her family we can glimpse her early interest in nature and the magical world of fairies. In her later portraits and drawings of real children, sketchbooks of poems and the studies and sketches made for her illustrations we see how she drew on her imagination as an adult to delight generations of children.”
Sara Glenn, Commercial Curator at Penguin Ventures, said:
“It has been a pleasure working with the Watts Gallery to create this new exhibition based on the life and work of Cicely Mary Barker. Cicely is best known as the creator of the Flower Fairies, however she was a prolific artist, starting from a young age, she honed her skill, studying and painting the things she saw throughout her life. I hope this exhibition will give others the chance to appreciate what an amazing talent she was and inspire younger visitors to draw and paint the world around them or create a magical world of their own.”
Flower Fairies™: The Magical World of Cicely Mary Barker opens at Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village on 22 October 2024 (until 27 April 2025). For further information: wattsgallery.org.uk
For further information:
wattsgallery.org.uk
Twitter @WattsGalleryInstagram @wattsgalleryFacebook /wattsgalleryartistsvillage
Tamsin Williams – tamsin@wigwampr.com – 07939 651252
We are delighted to be partnering with Muddy Stilettos for this exhibition.
Watts Gallery Trust is an independent charity established in 1904 to enable future generations to connect with the art and ideas of George Frederic Watts, one of the leading artists of the nineteenth century, and his artist-wife, Mary Seton Watts.
G F Watts OM RA (1817-1904) was widely considered to be the greatest painter of the Victorian age. He became the first living artist to have a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the artist’s ‘gift to the Nation’ made a significant contribution to the founding collections of Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery.
Mary Watts (1848-1939) was an artist, designer, writer, businesswoman and philanthropist. Her art supported and inspired the people around her, involving local communities in her projects. She was the creative powerhouse behind two significant enterprises: the Watts Chapel and the Compton Potters’ Arts Guild.
Today, Watts Gallery - Artist’s Village continues George and Mary Watts's legacy of Art for all by all. This vision to make art accessible to everyone is realised through a dynamic and multi-sensory programme of creativity, exhibitions, contemporary art projects and community engagement. Read more.
The Flower Fairies were created by illustrator and author Cicely Mary Barker and first published by Blackie and Son Ltd. in 1923. In 1985, Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd. (an imprint of Penguin Random House) took over the publishing and acquired the original Flower Fairy artworks, which are now on public access at the V&A Museum. The Flower Fairy books have been translated into 20 languages with over 7 million copies sold in the last ten years alone. A global consumer products licensing programme exists alongside the publishing and includes apparel, accessories, textiles, homewares and gifting. This is managed by Penguin Ventures at Penguin Random House UK.
www.flowerfairies.comFacebookInstagramPinterest
We’re off the page and on an adventure.
Penguin Ventures is the licensing and consumer products division of Penguin Random House Children’s UK. We manage and exploit our portfolio of iconic literary brands and characters: PETER RABBIT™; THE SNOWMAN™; FUN WITH SPOT™; FLOWER FAIRIES™ and more, we find new ways to tell the world's favourite stories. Working with best-in-class partners in licensing, retail, promotions, experiential, theatrical, exhibitions; at location-based experiences; and across the digital landscape, we take our beloved characters off the page and on new adventures.
www.penguinventures.co.uk