Exhibition explores life of Snowman creator Raymond Briggs: posthumous personal show takes place at Sussex museum

Bloomin’ Brilliant: The Life and Work of Raymond Briggs will be open from April 27 to October 27 in 2024 at Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft.

The museum said the ‘highly personal show’ will bring together 30 items from the late author’s estate with more than 100 original artworks from his 60-year career.

Steph Fuller, director of Ditchling Museum, said: “It has been a privilege to be invited by Raymond Briggs’ estate to visit his home and select objects for this exhibition. Being in his studio amongst his drawing materials, family photographs and notes to self, it feels as though he might have just stepped out and could return at any moment. I hope we’re able to convey something of that feeling to visitors.”

The museum said this new exhibition ‘joins up’ with the show currently touring from Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration – Raymond Briggs: A Retrospective. The museum said the exhibition includes work from Briggs’ titles like The Snowman (1978), Father Christmas (1973), Fungus the Bogeyman (1977) and When the Wind Blows (1982), as well as the graphic novel Ethel and Ernest (1998). It aims to explore the origin and creation of the stories and will display Briggs’ drawings, hand-lettered typography and page designs.

Beautiful baby girl born just after midnight on Christmas Day

A museum spokesperson said: “For the first time following the author´s death in 2022, this exhibition will also offer a deeply personal view of the items and objects that surrounded the author in his Sussex home, which was just a mile down the road in the village of Westmeston. This will include Briggs’ own writing and drawing desk which he used for over 40 years and where he first originated some of his most famous works.

“The items also give a sense of who Raymond Briggs was and his playful response to his own fame. A framed Private Eye edition from 1993 riffing on his most iconic work, a faux blue plaque outlining his commitment to practical jokes, and a 1997 note from his partner´s granddaughter detailing that ‘Raymond is not a normal person’ – an utterance that would also make it onto Briggs' own gravestone – are among the intriguing items that will be shared with the public. Images from his work also adorn several household items, with a pair of extravagant cupboard doors featuring life-sized paintings of his parents Ethel and Ernest, who were also the focus of his 1996 graphic novel documenting their lives.”

The exhibition will also feature a selection of private correspondence, as well as never-seen-before artworks.

Raymond Briggs (1934-2022) was a multi award-winning author and illustrator behind iconic children’s picture books. He was born in Wimbledon Park in 1934 and studied at Wimbledon School of Art and the Slade School of Art. He also taught illustration at Brighton College of Art. His awards include the Kurt Maschler Award, The Children’s Book of the Year, Dutch Silver Pen Award and the Kate Greenaway Award.