Charlie Brown and Snoopy are iconic creations that are beloved all over the world. Creator Charles M. Schulz worked on the strip for over 50 years and created over 17, 000 strips in that time. It is easy to reduce the love of Snoopy and Charlie Brown to stuffed toys and the plethora of commercial products but it is worth remembering that the comic series is an existential piece of work, a reflective meditation on loneliness, defeat, and alienation. Seriously, if you read the comics you will find hard hitting truths and sharp observations on the human condition… it is a masterpiece of presenting truth, but through the mouth of babes.
Charlie Brown is an everyman, he rarely wins but he gives it his best!
Well, Somerset House have an exhibition celebrating the world of Peanuts running currently and I went along for the ride.
The whole exhibition is beautifully curated with many original strips alongside some personal effects of Schulz, such as his childhood baseball mitt, ice-skating boots as well as the stuff you'd expect from an artist such as his pencils, pens, papers etc.
Upstairs the cultural impact of Peanuts is looked at and there are many modern interpretations of the characters.
Overall, the exhibition is a wonderful celebration of this most singular and influential comic strip artist and worthy of your consideration. The exhibition runs until 3rd March 2019 and at a reasonable £14 entrance price, is worth a couple of hours of perusal.
