London is to get a new museum in October, as the Heath Robinson Museum in Pinner, North-West London has confirmed its opening date.
This also happens to be the first purpose-built museum in Greater London for over 40 years. The museum, which will host a permanent display to the mad genius of Heath Robinson, as well as a number of temporary displays has confirmed that it open on 15th October.
It aims to combine original artwork with books, photographs, film and digital media to tell the full story of Heath Robinson’s artistic career.
Heath Robinson is best known as the creator of weird mechanical devices and strange gadgets, usually held together with knotted string. His name became an adjective to describe such ad hoc devices.
© Heath Robinson Museum
As the museum puts it, the Heath Robinson Museum is for students of illustration, lovers of landscape paintings, advertising enthusiasts and academics, dads building contraptions in sheds, believers in fairies, children with time to dream, couples stuck in tiny flats, people who put holes in cheese, artificial teeth testers and anyone who’s ever held something together with a bit of string.
The museum is based in Pinner, as that is where his family lived for a decade. It was in Pinner that the finest of his book illustrations were made, as well as much of the work that established him as a humorist.
The museum is about a 10 minute walk from Pinner tube station, on the Metropolitan Line. [map link] The museum’s website is here. It opens on 15th October.
“This also happens to be the first purpose-built museum in Greater London for over 40 years” – was the previous one the Museum of London?
Museum of London was built in 1976 — as with all of these claims – it depends what you mean… Hackney Museum is newer – but is part of a larger complex…. Havering newer still – but is part of a radical remodelling of the old brewery site