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Honi soit qui mal y pense

Print
1988 (made)
Artist/Maker
Square Peg Magazine (commissioned by)
James White Review (publisher)
Forster, Peter (artist)
Place of origin
Great Britain (made)

This striking and original design was commissioned for an unusual application of wood engraving, a T-shirt for Square Peg, a gay arts magazine. It was later applied to an advert in the James White Review. Artist Peter Forster (born 1934) works against the connotations of 'old-fashioned' and 'traditional' that the medium of wood engraving often has in the world of commercial illustration; he often works in colour and uses mixed media in defiance of the 'purists'.

Object details

Categories
Advertising
Prints
Fashion
Illustration
Images Online
Gender and Sexuality
Object type
Print
TitleHoni soit qui mal y pense (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Wood engraving on paper
Ink
Paper
Wood Engraving
Brief description
Print by Peter Forster, 'Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense', wood-engraved proof of a design originally used for a promotional T-Shirt, used here for an advert in the James White Review, Great Britain, 1988
Physical description
Wood engraved artwork originally commissioned for a T-Shirt, used here for an advert in the James White Review, showing two male torso fragments, resembling broken statues, each with an arms around the other's shoulder or waist.
Dimensions
  • Height: 14.5cm
  • Width: 15.8cm
Dimensions taken from Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints, Drawings and Paintings Accession Register for 1994
Production typeArtist's proof
Copy number
29/88
Marks and inscriptions
  • 29/88 Honi soit qui mal y pense (In pencil below image)
  • Peter Forster '88 (Signature and date in pencil below image)
Gallery label
(1994)
Peter FORSTER (born 1934)

Honi soit qui mal y pense
Proof of a design used for a promotional T-shirt for Square Peg
magazine and a press advertisement for James White Review. 1988
Wood engraving
E.683-1994

This striking and original design was first commissioned for an
unusual application of wood engraving, a T-shirt. The importance
of being given the opportunity for interesting work was emphasised
by the artist himself. 'The trouble with the commercial demand
for wood engraving is that they want something old-fashioned,
Merchant-Ivory-ish. I suppose one of us will end up illustrating the
Tory Party Manifesto. But it won't be me!'
Object history
Acquired in connection with the display A Fine Line - Commercial Wood Engraving in Britain, V&A, 10 October 1994 - 26 March 1995.
Subject depicted
Torsos
Summary
This striking and original design was commissioned for an unusual application of wood engraving, a T-shirt for Square Peg, a gay arts magazine. It was later applied to an advert in the James White Review. Artist Peter Forster (born 1934) works against the connotations of 'old-fashioned' and 'traditional' that the medium of wood engraving often has in the world of commercial illustration; he often works in colour and uses mixed media in defiance of the 'purists'.
Bibliographic references
  • Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints, Drawings and Paintings Accession Register for 1994
  • This object features as an illustration in 'Out on Display: A selection of LGBTQ-related objects on display in the V&A', a booklet created by the V&A's LGBTQ Working Group. First developed and distributed to coincide with the 2014 Pride in London Parade, the guide was then expanded for the Queer and Now Friday Late that took place in February 2015.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.683-1994

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Record createdNovember 25, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O175600/honi-soit-qui-mal-y-print-forster-peter/
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