Artists (mainly but not exclusively of
posters)
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Angrave, Bruce
Born in Leicester in 1914; died 1983. Studied at Chiswick Art School,
Ealing School of Art and Central College of Art, Book illoustrator and poster
artist. For poster of Crlomer see Emblin
Backtrack, 2014, 28, 356.
See also Cole and Durack...
Barney, Gerald [Gerry]
Designed British Rail logo which graces every station and most railway tickets.
It was created in 1964 by a 21 year old typeface designer
Beck, Henry Charles
Born in Leyton on 4 June 1902; died in Southampton (when normally
resident in Fordingbridge) on 18 September 1974. Educated at Grove House
School in Highgate. Sent to Italy to train a monumental sculptor. Married
Nora Millington, a lady of independent means. Produced classic London Transport
Underground map. ODNB obituary by Elizabeth Baigent.
Memorial blue plaque at place of birthM see
Humm J. Rly Canal Hist. Soc., 2015, 38, 252.
Bourne, John Cooke
Born in London on 1 September 1814. Apprenticed to John Pye, a
London-based landscape engraver. Noted for portraying the London & Birmingham
Railway under construction published as Drawings of the London &
Birmingham Railway (Ottley 6465) and a similar collection of coloured
lithographs: History and description of the Great Western Railway
(Ottley 5930). Died in February 1896, but his son did not die until
1962. From Jack Simmons entry in Oxford Companion:
see also John van Laun John Cooke Bourne...
Journal Rly Canal Hist. Soc.,
2014 (219) 2 (first part of series). See also
Beverley Cole's concise article in
Backtrack, 2016, 30, 500-1 in which she shows the significance
of his accurate depiction of the construction of the London & Birmingham
Railway and the enormous scale of the civil engineering
works..
Bury, Thomas Talbot
See C.F. Dendy Marshall
Transactions Newcomen Society, 2, 12.
Campbell, Leonard Taylor (1874-1969)
Produced posters for LMS; notably interior of first class restaurant
car with Isle of Arran in background and customers exuding wealth and damaging
their health by smoking. Poster reproduced in Beverley
Cole. Backtrack, 2015, 29,
582.
Carr, Leslie
Commercial artist: painter; illustrator; posters. Very tidy work.
Work appeared in the Motor Magazine and in posterr for the LNER, Southern
Railway, LCC Tramways and British Railways
Earl, George (1824-1908).
Coming South, Perth Station. 1895.
Reproduced in Christine Heap's. 'Coming South, Perth Sation' pp. 126-7
in Neil Cossons Making of the modern
world. pp. 170-1. There is a companion painting: Going North, King's
Cross Station
Ellis: London Midland & Scottish pp.
45-7
The LMS had been striving for some time to create an image of itself,
which should command public respect; to make in fact a new Premier Line which
was not the London & North Western warmed-up, a new Best Way which was
not the Midland hashed. The sort of resistance it had to meet has just been
described; in the 'twenties only the Great Western had any sort of social
status among British railway companies, and that was because it preserved
a much older image with no visible change, as if it Were a Saxon Godwin,
or a Norman Gresley among a lot of jumped-up nobodies whose peerages had
been created by the House of Hanover.
One of the LMS company's earlier and most successful efforts, an admirable
thing indeed, had been the commissioning of eminent artists to paint posters
illustrating both its territory and its actrvrnes. In the past, railway pictorial
posters had been generally eye-catching, and sometimes picturesque in a
vernacular way, though many were of singular vulgarity. With some affection
— it was just the sort of thing to appeal to the eye of a child —
one recalls the London & North Western Railway's Put Your Works Here!
It showed a huge single-block factory about to descend like an Unidentified
Flying Object upon an oblong meadow beside the line, to which the company
had already laid on a siding with the inevitable Webb coal engine awaiting
custom. As to passenger business, what nobody then called sex-appeal was
widely used and was exemplified by an incredibly overdressed, overhatted,
overcorseted young female person against a panoramic background, such as
Coniston Water. Goodness only knew how she had got up the the mountain with
all those things on!
Much better was the Caledonian's famous Golfing Girl at Gleneagles, whom
the LMS took up with pleasure. She had been variously driving-off, or using
her No. 7 in a bunker, since well before the '14 war, and her neat tweeds
changed with the years and the vagaries of fashion. Plenty of children were
depicted at the seaside; some of them were horrible little fat-cheeked brats,
but others were really charming. But for years, the London & North Western
had commissioned work from a very eminent painter, Norman Wilkinson, who
specialised in marine subjects. In his struggling youth, when professional
models came dear, his nice sister obliged him, and a poster of the ship-to-train
transfer at Holyhead showed Miss Wilkinson sailing up the platform like a
clipper before the South East Trades. In 1923, Norman Wilkinson persuaded
the new company to produce pictorial posters on a new and at the same time
patrician scale. He wrote at the time: "There is an idea very generally
entertained that a poster is a particular form of art, and must be handled
on certain conventional lines. This to me is a fallacy. A poster — I
am speaking now of pictorial posters — is something that will attract
and arrest the attention of the public. It therefore follows that if the
bulk of the posters now displayed are on certain lines, one is likely to
achieve greater success with something that is not essentially on those lines."
Just before Christmas, 1923, the London Midland & Scottish company announced
the commissioning of Royal Academicians for the production of its new posters.
There was to be no lettering on the pictures (a horrid custom of the past!)
and very little on the borders. Had Stephen Potter reached maturity in those
days, he might have remarked that the LMS had achieved a masterly piece of
one-up mans hip on the lofty old Great Western and some others. (The London
& North Eastern, however, was quick off the mark. Brangwyn produced for
it a glorious Rqyal Border Bridge.) To the LMS the several distinguished
painters variously responded, Sir D.Y. Cameron (an alarming man in some ways)
painted simply The Scottish Highlands, rather in the manner of his
famous Shadows of Glencoe; a very fine picture of mountains in those
rich after-storm colours which lovers of Western Scotland have known for
so long with such delight. Then Sir William Orpen, eminent painter of eminent
personages' portraits, contributed a picture of enginemen in the cab, on
a night express, but, one feels with less success. One would not dare to
criticise Orpen's figures of the driver and fireman, and his drawin:g of
the engine cab (indubitably London & North Western) was technically correct,
but one suspected that he was not really at home with a locomotive. The glare
of the open firedoor suggested that someone had dropped a fuzee into a box
of fireworks, and the slobby stuff in front of the panel-plate suggested
anything but the flying vapours of a locomotive at full speed in the night.
Norman Wilkinson, of course, painted an Irish Sea packet under a sky of vast
mounting cumulus. Stanhope Forbes painted Platelayers, a very agreeable
picture of men lifting a rail into chairs and marred only by the pose of
the lookout man who had turned to look round instead of having both eyes
on the Up Fast and his warning horn at the ready.
There were various others; some good and one or two ineffably bad. Specially
finished and mounted colour lithographs went to decorate the Great Hall at
Euston, and by many who paused to look at them were thought to be the originals.
In 1926 came a rather different sort of poster, devoted in a matey sort of
way to the working of the railways itself. Arthur Watts drew The Driver,
The Signalman , The Porter and The Guard , and E.V.
Knox (Evoe of Punch) furnished verses underneath.
The company's Advertising and Publicity Department owed much to the London
& North Western company, which had been one of the very first to realise
the popular appeal not only of the places and scenes the railway served but
of the railway itself. One believes that Sir Frank Ree had had something
to do with this. G. H. Loftus AlIen became LMS Advertising and Publicity
Officer in 1927, having joined the London & North Western service in
1913. In 1915 he had gone to France as an RTO, subsequently becoming Deputy
Assistant Director of Railway Transport. Back in company's service, he had
held office as Runner in various districts, being Superintendent of the Line's
Runner, Birmingham, during the year 1922-23. He had six months in the United
States under an LMS scheme. In the 1930S, one of his young men was Derek
Barrie, journalist- turned-railwayman, who years after was to command the
North Eastern and Eastern Regions of British Railways.
Emett, Rowland
Born on 22 October 1904; died 13 November 1990. Punch cartoonist
who created Far Twittering and Oyster Creek Railway with locomotive Nellie
implemented in Battersea Park during Festival of Britain during 1951. See
Rly Wld, 1991, 52,
218; and beautifully writtten ODNB biography by John
Jensen; and Ottley entries 4472 et seq.
Forbes, Stanhope Alexander
Born Dublin on 18 November 1857, the younger son of William Forbes,
manager of the Midland Great Western Railway in Ireland, and his French wife,
Juliette de Guise. His uncle James Staats Forbes, an important art collector,
particularly of the French Barbizon and Dutch Hague schools, his
cousin William Alexander Forbes, and his elder brother, Sir William
Forbes, all followed careers as railway managers, but Stanhope Forbes showed
a talent for drawing which was encouraged by his art master at Dulwich College,
John Sparkes. In 1884 he visited Cornwall and was attracted by the little
village of Newlyn. Forbes died at his home, Higher Faughan, Newlyn, on 2
March 1947. ODNB entry by Kenneth McConkey. Through
the marshes exhibited Royal Acedemy
see Locomotive Mag., 1925,
33, 237. Railway posters see Cole
and Durack
Gawthorn, Henry George
Born in Northampton in 1879; died 1941. Studied at the Heatherley
School and Regent Street Polytechnic. Worked in an architect's office before
becoming a poster artist. Much work for the LNER, For poster of Saltburn
by the Sea see Emblin Backtrack,
2014, 28, 356. Place of birth and correct spelling
see Cole and Durack. Poster of Alexandra
Dock, Hull (LNER) see Backtrack,
2015, 29, 674.
Grineau, Bryan de
Born on 11 May 1883 as Charles William Grineau; died May 1957 (Times
obituary 27 May). Specialised in motoring especially motor sport. Railway
posters see Cole and Durack poster
of LMS streamlined Pacific
Kinneir, Ricard [Jock]
Born in Hampshire on 11 February 1917; died 23 August 1994. Educated
and taught at Chelsea College of Arts. Typographer noted for road signage,
but also designed an alphabet for British Rail
Lingstrom, Freda Violet
Born in Chelsea on 23 July 1893; died at Chartwell on 15 April 1989.
Daughter of copper engraver of Swedish ancestry. Educated at Central School
of Arts & Crafts. Latterly worked for BBC childrens programmes and included
creation of Andy Pandy. For poster of Skye
see Emblin Backtrack, 2014,
28, 356. Otherwise Wikipedia 2016-04-25. See also cover for
Clyde, Trossachs, Western Highlands reproduced in
Backtrack, 2016, 30, 272.
Mason, Frank Henry Algernon
Born in Seaton Carew on 1 October 1875. Educated at HMS Conway Naval
School in Birkenhead. Trained as a marine engineer at Parsons. Settled in
Scarborough in 1894 and studied at Scarborough School of Art. During WW1
was an official shipping war artist. Very bold poster artist. Died 24 February
1965. Wikipedia 2014-06. and Cole and
Durack.
Michael, Arthur C.
Produced posters for LNER (sometimes in association with other companies);
notably golfing poster of St. Andrews. Poster reproduced in Beverley Cole.
Backtrack, 2015, 29, 582
in black & white, but widely available in colour on Internet..
Newbould, Frank
Born in Bradford on 24 September 1887; died 1951. Educated at Bradford
College of Art and Camberwell School of Art, he worked mostly in London from
the interwar period specialising in travel posters. For poster of Belgium
via Harwich see Emblin Backtrack,
2014, 28, 356. Otherwise Wikipedia 2014-05-30.
Paolozzi, Eduardo Luigi
Born on 7 March 1924 in Leith of Italian parents, died in London on
22 April 2005. Interned during WW2 in Saughton Gaol (his father and grandfather
lost their lives when being transported to Canada as vessel was sunk by German
submarine). The recurring subject of Paolozzi's art was the relationship
between man and machine, and the role of artificial intelligence in the
post-industrial age. From his teenage experience in Scotland, of cigarette
cards and the cinema, Paolozzi believed that popular culture (the dynamism
of which is present in his best work) was innately superior to much fine
art, a belief he still upheld in the salons of Hampstead when he was a Royal
Academician. ODNB biography by Robin Spencer. Reason
for inclusion: Tottenham Couurt Road station (personal experience) and
see Paul Moss
Pisarro, Camille
French Impressionist who stayed in London and painted trains in West
London: see letter from Clive
Croome in Rly Arch. No. 46
Purvis, Thomas Charles
Born in Bristol on 12 June 1888, the son of the sailor and marine
artist, T.G. Purvis (1861-1933). After leaving school he attended Camberwell
College of Art in London for 3½ years, during this time he studied under
both Sickert and Degas. After leaving art college Purvis began working for
the advertising agency Mather and Crowther however little of his work from
this time has survived/has been identified. Purvis left Mather and Crowther
after 6 years and began working freelance for Avenue Press, whose facilities
he used in his spare time in order to master the art of lithographic printing,
which defined much of his poster work. Purvis was widely known as one of
the most important English poster artists of his day, recognisable for his
simplified, symbolic, two-dimensional and colourful style of printing. He
is probably best known for his work with Austin Reed and the LNER, for whom
he produced over 100 posters from 1923-1945. During his time collaborating
with the LNER and Austin Reed Purvis created posters and magazine/newspaper
advertisements for other company’s including: Aquascutum, Blackpool
Pleasure Beach, Bovril, The British Industries Fair (B.I.F.), Colgate, The
Daily Herald and Shell. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s he contributed to
various publications through freelance work with Odhams Press, illustrating
stories and front covers for titles including: 20 Story Magazine, The
London Magazine, Modern Man, PAN, Passing Show Magazine, and
Punch. The style Purvis employed for this work is often significantly
more naturalistic than that seen in his poster work. During the Second World
War Purvis was also an official poster artist for the Ministry of Supply.
During his career Purvis lobbied for the professionalisation of commercial
art. He publicised his views concerning what he perceived as a lack of practical
training for commercial artists through articles and lectures. In 1930 Purvis
joined the Society of Industrial Artists and in 1936 he became one of the
first designers to be made a Royal Designer for Industry by the Royal Society
of Arts. After the Second World War Purvis withdrew from commercial art however
he continued to work with Blackpool Pleasure Beach until his death on 27
August 1959, alongside undertaking commissioned portrait work. In his later
years (c.1950s) Purvis converted to Catholicism and focussed on religious
paintings [NRM]. The Coronation (showing the train crossing the Royal
Border Bridge with "headlamps shining" is basis for cover of
Cole and Durack.
Secretan, Murray
Born 1888; died 1945. Worked for LMS Advertising Department and later
for the Trade Advertising Section. Some railway posters.
See Cole and Durack....
Steel, Kenneth
Born in Sheffield on 9 July 1906; died 1970. Educated at Sheffield
College of Art. Producer of posters and railway carriage panels. For poster
of Ullswater see Emblin Backtrack,
2014, 28, 356. .
Stingemore, F.H.
Mainly associated with cartography of London Underground network prior
to Beck.
Tenniel, John
Born on 28 February 1820 in London; died 25 February 1914 iin London.
Achieved great fame as illuiustrator of Lewis Carroll "Alice" books, but
also known for his work in Punch. Penetrating assessment of his
caricacture of railway board members and their attitude towards passener
safety by Simmons in Express train.
The vital statistics reflect the ODNB entry by L.
Perry Curtis jun which makes no mention of Jack Simmons' observations nor
Tenniel's dislike of the railway industry, but does record some of his unpleasant
attitudes towards Jews, the Irish and Africans
Ward, Laurie
Draughtsman who recorded his observations in Journal of the Stephenson
Locomotive Society. See Fell and Hennessey
Backtrack, 2009, 23, 646. Was he the Ward who produced
Modern locomotives published by Rylee
of Birmingham? Also plates in Trains Annual 1953
Way, Robert Barnard
Born in 1890. Ten titles listed in Ottley (mainly books for children).
Website shows that cigarette cards and postcards produced by him.
The World's railways and how they
work
Welch, Victor
Andrew Dow's Memories of a railway
childhood page 39 "The other presence of railways
at the school was the occasional visit of my father, with films and a
projectionist, to talk about railways. This was a typical public relations
function, not only to foster general interest in railways, but also to encourage
thoughts of joining the railway as a career. The projectionist on these occasions
was almost certainly Vie Welch, who my father discovered buried in the depths
of Euston House when he joined the London Midland Region in 1949. One year,
my birthday party at home was a railway film show for friends, and Vie Welch
probably did the honours then. But my father had discovered that he was a
keen artist, and after getting him to produce some diagrammatic maps for
use throughout the London Midland, he asked him to produce paintings for
use in pictorial posters. The first was Trains of Our Times, which
showed steam, diesel and electric trains at Bushey, and the second was
Britain's First All-Electric Main Line, showing electrically-hauled
trains on the Woodhead route. These launched him on a career as a commercial
illustrator, and he left the railway, but thereafter he was always pleased
to execute commissions for his old chief, who had set him on this path.
Nock's Scottish railways includes
some of his best work.
Wilkinson, Norman
Born in Cambridge on 24 November 1878; died 31 May 1971. Educated
at Berkhamsted School in Hertfordshire and at St. Paul's Cathedral Choir
School in London. His early artistic training occurred in the vicinity of
Portsmouth and Cornwall, and at Southsea School of Art, where he was later
a teacher as well. He also studied with seascape painter Louis Grier, marine
artist who created dazzle camouflage during WW1. For poster of Birthplace
of Robert Burns (a poor poster) see Emblin
Backtrack, 2014, 28, 356. Otherwise Wikipedia 2014-05-30.
See also Cole and Durack. Covers for
two LMS brochures published in 1928 reproduced in
Backtrack, 2016, 30, 272.
: one shows Turnberry golf course with Ailsa Craig and the other a very
striking Arbroath Abbey.
Wolstenholme, Arthur Nigel
Articles by Geoff Courtney in Heritage Railway (March-April
2011 and August 2011) reveal more about A N Wolstenholme the artist whose
pictures adorned many Ian Allan publications and BR posters from the 1940s
onwards. Arthur Nigel Wolstenholme was born in January 1920 and died in June
2002 at the age of 82 in Watford where it is believed he had lived for at
least 40 years and possibly for his entire life. He worked as a freelance
technical and commercial artist and covered subjects beyond transport. Also
Art Editor of Loco Profile series edited by Brian
Reed. Images on FLIKR. A question of line.
Trains Annual, 1948, 18-22:
proposals for softening the outline of the Thompson and de-streamlined LMS
Pacifics.
Wood, Leslie Ashwell
Born in Stockport on 26 February 1920; died 1994 when living in Poynton,
Cheshire. He studied at the Manchester College of Art and Design and gained
a travelling scholarship. Prevented from travelling abroad because of WW2,
he instead went to London. In 1943, Wood showed some of his work to Faber
and Faber, and was soon commissioned to take over illustration of Diana Ross'
Little Red Engine books, and went on to illustrate many other children's
books including the covers of the first fourteen Hugh Walters Chris Godrey
of UNEXA series. Famed for Eagle comic cut-away drawings; also much in evidence
in The World's railways and how they work.
2016-12-22