A NEW exhibition was mounted at Brantwood on the shores of Coniston Water in 1995 to mark the influence of John Ruskin’s writings on the work of Mahatma Gandhi.
Entitled Ruskin and Gandhi: Makers of the Twentieth Century, it was sponsored by Glaxo.
The High Commissioner for India, His Excellency Dr L M Singhvi, opened the exhibition during what he described as “a pilgrimage” marking the 125th anniversary of the Mahatma’s birth.
HARBOUR: The harbour at Brantwood in 1971
In 2008 a Beano artist created a special comic for Brantwood, the former home of visionary writer and artist John Ruskin.
Cult illustrator Hunt Emerson had created a comic book as part of the gallery’s educational project, the How to See campaign.
The aim of the campaign was to encourage people of all ages, but especially young people, to look more carefully at the world around them.
As well as publishing the comic, Brantwood also hosted a retrospective exhibition of Hunt Emerson’s often surreal artwork, called Thirty Years of Big Noses.
The Birmingham-based writer drew the Ratz comic strip for the Beano.
ICE: Anna and Lucy Smith, from Guildford, Surrey, probe the mysteries of the old Ice House at Brantwood in 1991
Brantwood began working with him in 2005 and thousands of the How to See comics were set to be distributed to special schools, pupil referral units and young carers across Cumbria and Lancashire.
The comic was officially launched at Brantwood, where Coniston Primary School pupils were invited to be the first children to get a glimpse of the comic.
How to See, written by Kevin Jackson, was a humorous exploration of John Ruskin's ideas. It featured a pessimistic man, Darren Bloke, and his dog Skittle. The pair are taken on a voyage of the imagination by the spirit of Ruskin, and learn to see the world in a different, more positive, light.
DINING: An undated photograph of the dining room at Brantwood from The Mail’s archives
John Ruskin bought Brantwood in 1871. He wrote a myriad of books on many different subjects, from nature and geology to art and architecture.
The Victorian writer was a great advocate of the artist Joseph Turner. As a result, he became an inspiration to a generation of younger artists, most notably the Pre-Raphaelite painters.
He was also an early champion of social justice, his ideas influencing the Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi.
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