Two London-standard exhibitions are celebrating the works of the world’s great artists and great authors. Chris Price went along to be inspired.

With a melancholy look on his face, Vincent van Gogh looks longingly at his worn and unstable chair. That moment which may have inspired one of the tortured artist’s most famous works, is captured in a new exhibition.

The papier mache creations of Philip Cox, entitled Strangely Familiar, depict many of the world’s most famous artists with items which made them famous.

From Salvador Dali with his melting clocks to an old-aged Henri Matisse cutting paper to make a collage, several of the world’s greatest art figures stand motionless but captivatingly at Whitstable Museum and Gallery.

“The idea came to me after working on a number of projects in different schools with various different paintings,” said Philip. “We looked at famous paintings and then would convert the paintings into lifestyle sculpture. For this exhibition I chose pictures that had made an impact on me since being a small child.

“I chose artists and surrounded them with things that made them famous and things they were famous for painting.”

Most impressively, Philip does not paint his pieces. Every colour seen is from a different piece of coloured card, which he tears and layers. He is always on the lookout for different papers with interesting textures or patterns. Typically he begins with the head with his pieces and works downwards, doing the legs and arms individually and attaching them at a later date. He was invited to host an exhibition in Whitstable this year, having last held one in the town 10 years ago.

“People still remember it,” said exhibition organiser Manda Gifford. “Even if they didn’t remember Philip’s name they just remember how much the exhibition made them smile.

“You can get very close to the pieces. They are so beautifully made, particularly when you realise Philip doesn’t paint them. They don’t look mass produced. They are made with incredible detail.”

Five miles down the road, another London-standard exhibition has taken up residence at Herne Bay Museum and Gallery. A collection of photographs of writer’s rooms have gone on show, taken by award-winning Guardian photographer and former picture editor Eamonn McCabe.

The pictures are intimate portraits of the rooms that famous writers work in, including Hilary Mantel, David Lodge, Kate Mosse and Robert Harris.

“I think they are great” said Manda. “It’s fascinating because everybody is fascinated by people at work. You get a slight sense of guilt because you feel you are peering through a window. In some of these places some bestsellers have been written.”

Manda added: “This is an example of a national name. Most weeks you will see Eamonn’s name beside a picture somewhere in the Guardian.

“It is the quality of what you would expect to see in a gallery in London. People can walk in our museums and see something really amazing. ”

Strangely Familiar: papier-mache artists by Philip Cox runs at Whitstable Museum and Gallery until Monday, January 2. Admission £3, concessions £1, up to two children free per adult. Call 01227 276998. Writer’s Rooms: photographs by Eamonn McCabe runs at Herne Bay Museum and Gallery until Sunday, January 8. Admission £2, concessions £1, up to two children free per adult. Call 01227 367368. Visit www.canterbury-museums.co.uk.