Summer 2020 (online exhibition)
Curated by Joanna Baines, Tom Kennett and Clair Waller (Special Collections & Archives)

On Wednesday 5 August 1945 the Giles Family appeared for the first time in the pages of the Sunday Express. The creation of cartoonist Carl Giles (1916-1995), over the course of the next 45 years they would appear in over two thousand cartoons in the Sunday Express and Daily Express. For many people his cartoons capture British life in microcosm, and the Family became a national institution. Giles became the most famous and well-beloved cartoonist of his generation: in 2000 he was voted Britain’s Favourite Cartoonist of the 20th century. This exhibition celebrates the enduring legacy of  the Giles Family by drawing on the riches of the Carl Giles Archive, which has been part of the British Cartoon Archive since 2005.

A physical exhibition was planned for display in the Gallery in Summer 2020 but unfortunately this has not been possible as a result of Covid-19. In lieu of a physical display SC&A staff have created a series of blogs and social media posts as a virtual equivalent, which will be posted to the SC&A blog – we hope you enjoy!