DOI Heft:
No. 389 (August 1925)
DOI Artikel:Jones, Sydney R.: Recent British, Canadian and American posters
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21403#0115
RECENT BRITISH, CANADIAN, AND AMERICAN POSTERS
by the NORTH SHORE LINE
POSTER BY WILLARD FREDERICK
ELMES. (By courtesy of the Chicago
North Shore and Milwaukee Rlwy.)
individuals, have been active in raising
the general standard of poster-work to its
present level. The hoardings, it is true,
are yet capable of much improvement, and
they might well exhibit a far higher per-
centage of good artistic work suited to the
purpose of advertising ; the end is not yet
in sight when every bill-posting station
shall be a veritable picture gallery for the
people. Nevertheless, the current trend
is towards better things, and in this con-
nection it is gratifying to be able to state
that the posters by artists of the English-
speaking peoples are at least holding their
own with those from other countries, a
The demand for more and better art on
the hoardings is exemplified by the
selection of recent poster designs that is
printed on the accompanying pages. It
gives an indication of what is being done
in Great Britain, Canada, and America,
and serves to show the direction in which
artistic thought is moving when expressed
through the medium of the poster. Each
of the designs illustrated is obviously
the work of a craftsman who has appre-
ciated and realised the problem he has set
out to solve, and who has approached it
with due regard to its purpose, possibilities,
and limitations. In every instance the
intention of the advertiser is made per-
fectly clear, the messages are well delivered,
and emphasised, by the manner of pre-
sentment employed, and the artistic values
of each subject help to give conspicuous-
ness. 0 a 0 a a a
F. C . Herrick's The Lap of Luxury is one
of a series of posters which this artist has
recently executed for London's Under-
ground Railways. The example in ques-
tion is one of the most distinguished works
that has come from the hand of this
accomplished designer, who is gifted with
the true poster sense. It is especially note-
worthy on account of its bold conception
and skilful handling of line and colour,
while workings of an exceptionally alert
imagination are traceable in every detail.
The pure blacks, opposed by lighter
harmonies of colour, are cleverly placed,
the draughtsmanship throughout is of a
high order, and the general flow of the
composition well suggests the idea of
travel by electric power. From every
point of view this poster is a worthy repre-
sentative of the modern British School.
The Zoo, by Gregory Brown, furnishes
another example in which the progressive
thought of to-day has been admirably
expressed. Through the artist's creative
ability, coupled with his acute apprecia-
tion of decorative possibility and colour
effect, a fine result has been achieved from
material that is full of intricacies and
difficult to arrange. a a 0
Two other railway posters, by the
American artist Willard Frederick Elmes,
are also reproduced. Hiking along the
North Shore Route, with its strongly
rendered motive of pedestrianism, is a
capital work in which the spaciousness of
the open air, and the exhilaration that
comes with walking under the broad sky
are well conveyed. The appeal of the open
air also characterises Downe, for the North
Downs, an Underground Railway poster by
Walter E. Spradbery. Canadian enter-
prise is represented by A. J. Casson's Save
for a Rainy Day, while The Winner and
The Evening Standard poster are other
good things that have lately appeared. 0
109
by the NORTH SHORE LINE
POSTER BY WILLARD FREDERICK
ELMES. (By courtesy of the Chicago
North Shore and Milwaukee Rlwy.)
individuals, have been active in raising
the general standard of poster-work to its
present level. The hoardings, it is true,
are yet capable of much improvement, and
they might well exhibit a far higher per-
centage of good artistic work suited to the
purpose of advertising ; the end is not yet
in sight when every bill-posting station
shall be a veritable picture gallery for the
people. Nevertheless, the current trend
is towards better things, and in this con-
nection it is gratifying to be able to state
that the posters by artists of the English-
speaking peoples are at least holding their
own with those from other countries, a
The demand for more and better art on
the hoardings is exemplified by the
selection of recent poster designs that is
printed on the accompanying pages. It
gives an indication of what is being done
in Great Britain, Canada, and America,
and serves to show the direction in which
artistic thought is moving when expressed
through the medium of the poster. Each
of the designs illustrated is obviously
the work of a craftsman who has appre-
ciated and realised the problem he has set
out to solve, and who has approached it
with due regard to its purpose, possibilities,
and limitations. In every instance the
intention of the advertiser is made per-
fectly clear, the messages are well delivered,
and emphasised, by the manner of pre-
sentment employed, and the artistic values
of each subject help to give conspicuous-
ness. 0 a 0 a a a
F. C . Herrick's The Lap of Luxury is one
of a series of posters which this artist has
recently executed for London's Under-
ground Railways. The example in ques-
tion is one of the most distinguished works
that has come from the hand of this
accomplished designer, who is gifted with
the true poster sense. It is especially note-
worthy on account of its bold conception
and skilful handling of line and colour,
while workings of an exceptionally alert
imagination are traceable in every detail.
The pure blacks, opposed by lighter
harmonies of colour, are cleverly placed,
the draughtsmanship throughout is of a
high order, and the general flow of the
composition well suggests the idea of
travel by electric power. From every
point of view this poster is a worthy repre-
sentative of the modern British School.
The Zoo, by Gregory Brown, furnishes
another example in which the progressive
thought of to-day has been admirably
expressed. Through the artist's creative
ability, coupled with his acute apprecia-
tion of decorative possibility and colour
effect, a fine result has been achieved from
material that is full of intricacies and
difficult to arrange. a a 0
Two other railway posters, by the
American artist Willard Frederick Elmes,
are also reproduced. Hiking along the
North Shore Route, with its strongly
rendered motive of pedestrianism, is a
capital work in which the spaciousness of
the open air, and the exhilaration that
comes with walking under the broad sky
are well conveyed. The appeal of the open
air also characterises Downe, for the North
Downs, an Underground Railway poster by
Walter E. Spradbery. Canadian enter-
prise is represented by A. J. Casson's Save
for a Rainy Day, while The Winner and
The Evening Standard poster are other
good things that have lately appeared. 0
109