William Heath Robinson museum set to open Published duration 13 October 2016

image copyright Heath Robison Museum image caption William Heath Robinson pictured with his son

A museum celebrating the life and work of British artist William Heath Robinson is set to open.

The Heath Robinson Museum will provide a permanent home in Pinner, north-west London, for the largest collection of the artist's work.

It is the first purpose-built museum to open in the capital in more than 40 years.

The museum is being opened by the William Heath Robinson Trust and supported by £1.3m of Lottery funding.

A programme of special exhibitions will go on display from 15 October.

image copyright Heath Robinson Museum image caption Heath Robinson's drawings featured complicated inventions

Born in 1872, Heath Robinson trained at the Islington School of Art and moved to Pinner in 1908.

His drawings of complicated inventions saw his name enter the lexicon in 1912 as a synonym for absurdly ingenious devices.

Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park and Olympic Cauldron designer Thomas Heatherwick are among those to have cited him as an influence.

The artist died in September 1944, aged 72.

Last year, a collection of 410 drawings and paintings which included many of his best-known World War One and Two cartoons were saved for the nation and acquired by the trust.

image copyright WHRT image caption One cartoon looked at ways to resist a German invasion, while another depicted both sides tunnelling underground to plant mines in each others' trenches

image copyright WHRT image caption Confusing the Enemy's Sense of Direction (left) imagined underground pulleys being used, while Netting Tanks (right) depicted armoured vehicles being armed with nets

image copyright WHRT image caption Heath Robinson also found humour away from the battlefield, such as these works featuring the Metropolitan Water Board and a kind Christmas deed

image copyright Heath Robinson Museum image caption This illustration plays with the idea of 'modern carpet designs'