Travel Posters: A Whistle-Stop History
The beauty of advertisement posters tends to be the last thing on a person’s mind as they catch a train, plane, or ferry for transport. We are acclimatised to such images - stock images of methods of transport and smiling passengers with information written in a neat, modern font, almost certainly produced by an indifferent graphic designer. Whilst these posters will one day become important relics of advertising visual culture, it would not be wrong to say that such posters are not heralded for their artistic merit.
This was not always the case - between the 1920s and 1950s, transport companies commissioned artists and illustrators to create specific works of art for advertisements in what is known as ‘the Golden Age of Travel Posters’. These original pieces, often by well-known artists of the day, are exceptionally rare and are often in private collections or museums. Our gallery, Darnley Fine Art, offers the unique opportunity to own one of these vibrant works that are emblematic of 20th century British culture.
A Whistle-stop History of Travel Posters
As a concept, travel posters have their roots in the British Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, when rapid technological innovation made national and international transport easier, cheaper, and more accessible. This led to a boom in holiday culture, which saw those living in cities use bus routes, trains and ships to travel to previously unreachable rural locations. As a result, transport companies began to invest large amounts of money into advertisements, aimed at promoting the usage of their routes and services.
In the Golden Age of the travel poster - the 1920s and 1930s - companies began to commission established artists to produce artworks to be used in travel posters. These artists worked in a range of styles, from Art Deco and Art Nouveau to Modernism and Cubism, leading to the creation of a number of distinctive and impressive designs. Generally, these posters consisted of one of three subject matters - depicting the method of transport itself (which, when combined with contemporary visual aesthetics, served to demonstrate the modernity of transport), depicting the beauty of a destination, or depicting the range of activities that tourists could undertake at such a place.
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 put a temporary halt to the production of travel posters, and this is generally seen as the end of the Golden Age. Despite this, transportation companies continued to commission works in the post-war period, primarily aimed at reestablishing a sense of normalcy in a nation ravaged by six years of brutal conflict.
Derailing Expectations
Although the societal roles of women were slowly changing in the 20th century, the Golden Age of poster design fell during a period where women still faced significant barriers to producing art and being taken seriously as a creative. Travel companies commissioned women artists at a higher proportion than that of other industries across the country, and began this trend from the very start of the 20th century.
In fact, the Head of Publicity of the London Underground, Frank Pick, actively sought to commission women artists from as early as 1910. His progressive approach allowed many young women to begin their artistic careers with high profile and high paying commissions.
Unfortunately, women still faced a number of societal constraints and many had their careers cut short by the expectations of family life. Despite being brilliant artists in their own right, only a few have managed to escape falling into obscurity. One such artist in our collection is Hazel Bruce Dunlop - her brilliant use of colour and modernist aesthetic demonstrate her innovative approach to creation, and it is a shame she has been overlooked for so long.
Dazzling Designers: Norman Wilkinson
One of the most sought-after travel poster artists is the Cambridge-born Norman Wilkinson (1878-1971). Beginning his career as a newspaper illustrator, Wilkinson earned fame after innovating the railway poster design away from listed information and small images to featuring iconic landmarks in broader landscapes. This pioneering response earned him many further commissions, and Wilkinson considered himself as “the father and mother of the artistic poster on English railway stations.
Wilkinson was a staunch believer in the use of art for advertising, claiming that the use of eye-catching and beautiful images could relieve the tedium of what is still probably one of life’s most depressing experiences - a wait in a British Railway Station”. Over his long career, Wilkinson worked with the London and North Western Railway, the London Midland and Scottish Railway, the Southern Railway, and even across the pond for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Wilkinson was also commissioned by a number of shipping companies, including the Cunard Line, the White Star Line and the Allan Line. He was also responsible for commissioning his contemporaries at the Royal Academy to produce travel posters.
But it was not just travel posters that Wilkinson is known for - he helped to develop the concept of ‘dazzle’ camouflage used on British warships during the First and Second World Wars. Wilkinson made a series of paintings of warships covered in the garish ‘disrupt and confuse’ patterns that he had pioneered, many of which are held in the Imperial War Museum, London.
Wilkinson’s works are part of major collections across the country, and are in fierce demand on the private market. His travel posters are coveted items, let alone the original artworks that Darnley Fine Art is unique in offering for sale.
The age of the travel poster is long gone, with the rise of digital advertising in the current era negating the necessity of these striking images. Darnley Fine Art offers a unique opportunity to own the original artworks for these posters, which are even more rare than the posters themselves. They call back to a time where travel was an exciting novelty, and represent the classic British countryside and its landmarks through innovative, striking aesthetics.