International Friendship Day: Pictures that make us feel friendly

If "books keep you company when you're alone. They're your friends through a rainy day", why shouldn't pictures? See Bankside Gallery's selection of pictures that (we think!) reflect the wonderfully multifarious friendships with which we can be blessed. 

 

 

Friendship is like a river which flows forever.

It may change its path but will never dry up.

- Reinhold Niebuhr

 

 

 John Duffin RE

Thames London

etching

£245 unframed

 


 

 

True friendship is a plant of slow growth. 

- George Washington

 

 

Lars Nyberg RE

Marion’s Convalescent

drypoint

£150 unframed

 


 

 

 

Whoever said "Diamonds are a girl’s best friend"

never owned a dog.

- Unknown

 

 

Charles Williams RWS

Dog and Red Ball

watercolour

£195 unframed

 


 

 

 

Time spent with cats is never wasted.

- Sigmund Freud

 

 

Meg Dutton RE

Dreaming Cat

etching

£175 unframed

 


 

 

Twins make the best of friends.

- Unknown

 

 

Pilar Munoz RE

Conjoined

latex, screenprint, relief stamp block

£395 unframed

 


 

 

Friends are like bras: close to your heart and there for support.

- Unknown

 

 

Sonia Martin ARE

Ace of Hearts

etching & aquatint

£125 unframed

 


 

 

 

Friends are God's way of apologizing to us for our families.

- Unknown

 

 

Ralph Kiggell ARE

Sumo Hold

water-based woodblock

£300 unframed

 


 

 

 

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg

even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.

- Bernard Meltzer

 

 

Trevor Price RE

The Angel and the Aviator

water-based woodblock

£100 unframed

 


 

 

 

Don’t walk in front of me…I may not follow. Don’t walk

behind me…I may not lead. Walk beside me

just be my friend.

- Albert Camus

 

 

Ann Tout RE

Resting Camels

wood engraving

£85 unframed

 


 

 

 

Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

 

Sharon Lee RE

Hyacinth Transplant

lithograph, chine colle, cutting

£170 unframed

 


 

 

Good friends help you to find important things when you

have lost them… your smile, your hope and your courage.

- Doe Zantamata

 

 

Wendy Jacob RWS

Beach Fencing

gouache

£250 unframed

 


 

More like this on the Blog...

Read: 7 Artworks for Cat Lovers: International Cat Day

Read: #BanksideBrowsers: The Art of Love

 Read: 8 must-haves for animal lovers

Read: International Friendship Day: Artworks that make us feel friendly

 

The small print (if you're interested!): the original idea for Friendship Day came from Hallmark Cards in the 1930s. Originally celebrated on 2nd August, the day was largely viewed cynically by the public as a money-making exercise, sales of friendship day cards did not take off in Europe and by the mid-1940s the day had faded into obscurity in the USA. The idea of a day to honour friendship was, however, adopted by a number of countries in Asia where it remains a popular custom to reserve a day for celebrating friendships and the exchange of gifts between friends. Behind it there's an interesting and valuable concept: by making friends with more people, there’s less chance of injustice, war, poverty.

 

“Through friendship — by accumulating bonds of camaraderie and developing strong ties of trust — we can contribute to the fundamental shifts that are urgently needed to achieve lasting stability,” explains the UN. 

July 26, 2018