Gill Bradley
Monkeys Loose in Notting Hill, 1927

Lithograph
100 x 65 cm

“The monkey hunt which has been entertaining all but those immediately associated with the fugitives is still proceeding. Yesterday morning three of the thirteen members of a monkey jazz band which escaped from the Notting Hill district of London last Friday were still at large. Two of them had entrenched themselves, so to speak, under the arches which support the platform of Latimer Road Metropolitan Railway Station, South Kensington, while the third, Franko, the leader of the band, had left that locality, having apparently boarded a train for Paddington on Monday. He has been “seen” by various people in districts as far apart as Ealing, Brixton, and Brentford. Late on Tuesday night it was discovered that Bimbo, the drummer, had also left Latimer Road.”

“Five of them got into my store, and ate 28 lbs of biscuits. Eight of us, including two policemen, caught one, after three hours and after sifting two tons of oats. Then it escaped, and we spent three and a half hours recapturing it.”

What an eventful day the 24th of November 1927 was… Franco, Bimbo and another unnamed monkey made a break for freedom, tunnelling their way through the London underground, venturing far and wide across the capital. Inspired by this adventure, Gill Bradley painted the chaotic simian scenes in her 2014 entry for the Serco Prize for Illustration. The illustration uses bold colours, exaggerated proportions, and a mix of realism and abstraction to create a chaotic and dynamic scene. The judges of the competition ‘were drawn to the evident humour of the image, strong colour palette and the fact that it was a bit bonkers, and felt that commuters would find it very intriguing to look at during their travels.’

Condition: Generally very good.

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