The Art Of Laughter

Gillian Thornton visits Hampshire to enjoy the artistic talents of cartoonist Norman Thelwell in his centenary year.

ART exhibitions can be serious affairs, but as I walk round the latest show at Mottisfont estate in Hampshire, I'm aware of people laughing.

I'm chuckling myself.

Running until May 7, Mottisfont's latest exhibition celebrates the centenary of cartoonist Norman Thelwell.

The artist was famous for his humorous drawings of chubby children on plump ponies, in particular Penny and her pony Kipper.

As a rider myself, I loved his wry equestrian observations, collected in books such as "A Leg At Each Corner" and "Angels On Horseback".

But Norman Thelwell's artistic talents involved more than just ponies.

"We've held two other Thelwell exhibitions here: one on his pony cartoons and the other on landscapes," Mottisfont's Visitor Experience Manager Helen Potts explains.

"This time we wanted to look at his whole career and show different examples of his work.

"Norman's son David lives nearby and was tremendously generous in letting us sort through his huge collection of Thelwell artwork and memorabilia.

"He gave us access to his father's personal diaries and to boxes of fan letters from all over the world.

"He even lent us the desk where his father used to draw," she adds.

The result is a display of more than 150 pieces that trace Thelwell's career from his childhood love of drawing in Birkenhead through military service in India, art college in Liverpool, then various teaching posts before becoming a full-time freelance artist in 1956.