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Original London Underground Posters: Christie's Sale
15th September 2012
Reviews on the upcoming Original London Underground posters being offered for sale at Christie's South Kensington in October:
Art Daily (9th July)
"...an unrivalled and never-to-be-repeated opportunity to acquire iconic London Underground posters direct from the archives of London Transport Museum (LTM). The auction, featuring over 300 original advertising posters dating from 1913 to 1955, will be held at Christie’s South Kensington saleroom on 4th October 2012. Fifty highlights from the Collection will be on public preview at Christie’s saleroom on 8 King Street, St. James’ during the Olympic period, from Monday, 16 July to Friday, 24 August 2012."
This article also looks at the vintage poster market: "Due to the accessibility of the medium, in terms of aesthetic quality as well as price range, the works are often used as an appealing addition to home decor. Rarity and condition are the two main factors which indicate the value of each poster - as they were not originally intended to be kept for any great length of time, those on the open market today were either ‘rescued’ from a billboard before being pasted-over by the advertising companies, or were purchased as one of the limited editions released for sale at the time of printing."
FT How To Spend It (16th July)
"...from the first commissions in 1908, top designers were asked to promote the Underground’s reliability, off-peak travel, leisure trips, sales and sporting fixtures. The results were so popular with the travelling public that they wanted to buy them to display in their own homes ... In the 1920s and 1930s, big names such as Man Ray, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Julius Klinger were commissioned ... The adventurous designs of Edward McKnight Kauffer - arguably the best poster designer in Britain between the wars - also feature."
Antiques Trade Gazette (15th September)
"Featuring over 300 duplicate posters in exceptional condition from the museum's archives, the sale is expected to realise in excess of £500,000... In 1908 Frank Pick was given the responsibiliy for promoting the services of the Underground. He initiated a modern, colourful poster campaign...which has been actively continued ever since. This sale will include a large array of these designs: from pre-War posters advertising the speed and convenience of the Underground to posters about Tube etiquette or those offering advice on how to get to major sporting events... Posters by some of the biggest names in Underground poster design such as Edward McKnight Kauffer and Fougasse will also feature."
This ATG issue also featured a review of the Christie's London Sale on 3rd September that included an original 1939 Keep Calm and Carry On poster and The Great Bear poster map by Simon Patterson.
Issue 2062 (20th October) provides a double-page review of the LTM auction, "Sale of 326 duplicate copies from LTM archive sees all lots get away in eight hours," featuring images of Wadsworth's Imperial War Museum and Paine's Boat Race 1921 posters as well as Bird's (Fougasse) Tube etiquette cartoon posters, Beck's 1933 Underground Map and some anonymous posters for Wimbledon and other events.
Daily Mail (27th September)
'The Solid Comfort of the Underground' article with great images, including the 1926 futuristic London 2026 AD - This is all in the air by Montague B Black that presents a fascinating vision of London in the future, with an airport at London Bridge: "An extraordinary collection of more than 300 vintage London Underground posters which date back to as early as pre-World War One are set to fetch a combined £500,000 at auction next week... The Tube was known as ‘the longest art gallery in the world’ after advertising began in 1908... There was huge public demand over the following years to purchase the posters, and around 150 copies of each were made available to buy for between two and five shillings in the 1910s. In the Twenties and Thirties, top designers such as Fred Taylor and Austin Cooper were attracted by the status of winning a commission, while other artists got their big break on the hoardings."
Visit the Christie's website to view the e-catalogue and results.
Featured Image: London Transport - March Timetables, 1930s
Link: http://www.antikbar.co.uk/product_detail/?pId=1276