Winnie the Pooh and friends Piglet, Eeyore, and Christopher Robin are all coming to Stirling this Summer in a special exhibition from the Shepard Archive at the University of Surrey.

Their creator, Ernest Howard Shepard (1879-1976) was a versatile and prolific artist who also painted portraits and landscapes in addition to his illustrations and cartoons for Punch. He fought in the First World War and recorded the events he witnessed, but it was as an illustrator of children's books, especially his partnership with A. A. Milne for which Shepard gained international recognition.
His most famous publications include When We Were Very Young (1924), Winnie the Pooh (1926), Now We are Six (1927), The House at Pooh Corner (1928) and The Wind in the Willows (1931) for Kenneth Grahame.

After 1945 he illustrated over twenty books. In 1957 he published the first of his two autobiographies Drawn from Memory, recalling his Victorian childhood, followed by Drawn from Life in 1961 which continued the story of his student life at art school, his engagement and launch of his career. He married twice, his first wife Florence Chaplin died in 1927 by whom he had two children. His son Graham was killed in action in World War II. In 1972 E. H. Shepard was appointed O.B.E. He died in 1976, leaving his widow Norah.

The exhibition, entitled The Man Who Drew Pooh will be officially opened on Friday 6 June at 7.30pm by Provost Colin O'Brien.
The exhibition will reflect E. H. Shepard's whole career and includes over seventy illustrations, original letters, books from manuscript to copy together with small amounts of memorabilia and toys.
The exhibition will be on show in Stirling's Smith Art Gallery and Museum until 26 October. Admission is free. Open Tuesday-Saturday 10.30am- 5.00pm, Sundays 2.00-5.00pm.
A selection of related books, toys and cards will be available from the Smith Shop.

GO to What's On at the Smith