Edward Bawden Archives

Bear necessities

Earlier this week, I made it down to London to take a look at the British Murals and Decorative Painting exhibition, as mentioned a few weeks ago.

I still love this.

Although I have faced up to the fact that we have neither the funds nor a wall space large enough. Mind you, it was tempting; it was starting to look cheap, at least next to the Edward Bawden which, it turns out, was for sale.

For £165,000.

But as ever, exhibitions never appear quite as you expect. Two things really grabbed my attention, and they’re the biggest thing on display and one of the smallest.

The biggest is the John Piper mural from the Festival of Britain. It’s unimaginably huge. Even on Bond Street they could only find a space that would fit two thirds of its panels.

Its size is also its undoing, because a reproduction condenses it so much that you simply can’t see how good it is. Take this detail, a cupola which is in part from Castle Howard with a bit of the Sheldonian thrown in.

Or even these houses behind Owlpen Manor, which just disappear in a reproduction.

Really it’s brilliant – a contender for one of the best things Piper ever did, and I could have looked at it for hours. And it really, really ought to be in a museum so that everyone gets the chance to do that.

The other object that caught my attention is tiny.

This is a sketch by Kenneth Rowntree for a mural design for the British Restaurant in Acton in 1942. I like it as a piece of design, but I love it even more for what it represents.

The British Restaurants were set up by the Ministry of Food during the Second World War as places where people could get a reasonable meal (well, within the confines of rationing) at a fair price. They were set up in schools, in village halls, and, as Rowntree’s design shows, in churches too. But what absolutely astounds me, and fills me with joy, is that the Ministry of Food decided that it was important that the restaurants were decorated, and not just by anybody, but by some of the leading mural artists of the time.

Here, thanks to the Imperial War Museum, are some bureaucrats, examining a British Restaurant with a view to getting it decorated.

A flick through the book which accompanies the murals exhibition reveals that it wasn’t only Rowntree, a conscientious objector, who worked on the British Restaurants, many other of his contemporaries did too.

There is so much that is good about this scheme, but what I love most is the vision, the sense that even in a world where food and supplies are rationed, where every man and woman is being directed to where they can best support the war effort, art is important. But this isn’t an elitest intention, far from it; this art is designed for the most democratic of public places, it is genuinely art for all.

It’s a spirit that makes me thing that there was a country that I would have liked to live in. I know there were disadvantages, and I probably wouldn’t have liked the bombing and the deprivation, the constant fear of death. But even so, in its pride and its sense of what mattered in life, it’s a far better place than where I find myself living now.

Harrogate Return

auctions

It’s taken two years, but finally I can report on another Morphet’s sale. Sadly this is not another great poster extravaganza, but still worth your time and attention. Shall we take this for starters?

Abram Games, 1951, est. £200-300

The poster – which by rights should go for quite a bit more than that estimate – is a bit of a clue as to what’s going on here. Because although there are a few other posters in this sale, like the Gordon Nicol below, they’re not the main point of interest.

Gordon Nicol, 1958, est. £150-200

Although I will always have time for this London Transport poster, which I know I’ve mentioned on here at least once before

A R Thomson, 1949, est. £ 200-300

The main bulk of the fun isn’t posters for a change, but Festival of Britain ephemera, because this auction contains it in industrial quantities, well over sixty lots which range from womens’ handkerchiefs to horse brasses via pretty much everything in between.

Lager glasses anyone?

Or just, well, stuff?

But amongst the amusements are also a few more sensible things, like this Festival pot. Actually, it isn’t sensible at all but I still rather like it.

Then there is this Wedgwood mug, designed by Norman Makinson.

While we’re on the subject of Wedgwood, I should probably also mention this Ravilious Coronation mug as well.

If you’re wondering how he designed a mug for an event in 1953 when he’d died in 1942, the design was originally created for the coronation of Edward VII in 1937, and then revised for the coronations of both George VI and then Elizabeth II. So there. Estimate £120-150 if you’re desiring it.

Anyway, there is loads more to be found in the catalogues, so really it’s much better if you just go and have a look for yourselves. As long as you then tell me if you buy anything.

That’s not the only reason to go and take a look, though, because in addition to all of the Festival memorabilia it’s also offering also a very interesting set of Lyons prints too. The highlights are the Bawden and the Freedman if you ask me.

Edward Bawden, 1947, est. £200-300

Barnett Freedman, 1955, est. £250-300

I also have a soft spot for this Ardizzone too.

Edward Ardizzone, 1955, est. £80-100

But I can’t afford any of them because we’ve just bought a house, so they’re all yours if you want them. Off you go.

Janus in Great Bardfield

designers

It’s 1949. Britain is about to begin building the new world after the war. But as we already know, not everyone wants to look forward or be modern.

This is Edward Bawden’s Life in An English Village, published in the format of King Penguin that year. As the very first line of the essay by Noel Carrington makes clear, this book is a record of a village almost as a historical fossil rather than a living entity.

Because most of us in England have for long dwelt in towns or suburbs of towns, it is inevitable that we should come to know the countryside dweller in secondhand fashion; that is to say, largely through books.

The drawings are of Bawden’s own adopted village of Great Bardfield, in Essex, showing traditional figures like the vicar, or old fashioned shops.

In many ways this little book is a response to Ravilious’s High Street, in which he is recording some of the more idiosyncratic shops which are already disappearing from towns before the war.

The sixteen colour lithographs are wonderful, but I almost prefer the line drawings which are scattered throughout the essay, each one celebrating some visual detail that he has observed.

None of which are, naturally, modern.

I’ve commented a few times before on how this period is a curious time in British design, and perhaps in the way that people are feeling overall. The country really is looking forward to a time of equality, plenty and modernism. But at the same time, some people are aware that when a new era begins, an old one must end.

The more I think about this, the more it reminds me of a new year: plenty of people are looking into the future, but some are still reminiscing about the year which has passed, and which can never be retrieved again. The Romans knew what they were doing when they made Janus two-faced.

Auction fever (or not)

auctions

The next Christies poster sale is upon us; the lots are online, the printed catalogue is sitting on my desk. But I’ve been avoiding writing about it for the last few days, mainly because I can’t work up much enthusiasm for what’s on offer.

This, if I am pushed, is probably the best of the bunch. But it’s American, so it doesn’t really count, even if it is by Herbert Bayer.

Herbert Bayer Eggs vintage American wartime poster
Herbert Bayer, c.1940, est £700-900

The next best offerings are also American, a selection of TWA travel posters by David Klein.

David Klein, c.1958, est. £1,000-1,500

David Klein vintage TWA travel poster
David Klein, c.1960, £1,500-2,000

I’ve pondered the excellence of these before, because they have a quality which no British poster of that era really manages, an intense optimism about modernity, not simply as an ideal to be aimed for (which is much more the British mindset) but as something experienced in the present moment. They are glad to be alive in this modern world and the joy is infectious.

David Klein vintage TWA poster
David Klein, c.1960, est. £700-900

In the realms of things which I really should be contemplating, there is a Fougasse I haven’t seen before.

Fougasse, 1942, est. £600-800

Along with an interesting and early McKnight Kauffer.

McKnight Kauffer, 1933, est. £800-1,200

And then two Landers which are not new but now come with quite eyewatering estimates.

R M Lander, 1956, est. £600-800

I’m intrigued by these posters; they’re not necessarily the best of his work but they come up time and again at auction, unlike anything else he did. It could be that there are just more of them about, or it may be a self-perpetuating phenomenon: because people have seen them fetch good prices before, that brings more out of the woodwork. But he did do more interesting stuff, and I’ll post a few of our (rather battered) examples one of these days.

Then there is also this.

Daphne Padden, £1,00-1,500

Now it is by Daphne Padden, because it’s signed Daphne Padden, even if at first glance it looks much like her father’s style of work. Judging by the style of clothing, it must be from the very start of 1950s, so is probably one of her very earliest posters. Which makes it interesting, but I can’t say I particularly like it. Although the estimate suggests that Christies think that a large number of people will be expensively intersted in it.

There are other mildly interesting lots; a few from London Transport, of which my favourite is this Bawden.

Edward Bawden, 1936, est. £600-800

As ever, there are also the usual slew of railway posters including lots of pretty landscapes and detailed pictures of trains. This one does at least get a prize for being, er, different.

Greiwurth, 1928, est. £3,000-5,000

Oh to live in the simpler age before Freud thought of phallic symbolism.

Overall, though, the excitement just isn’t there. Really I think that – with the odd exception when a great collection comes up for sale – Christies’ sales just aren’t for me any more. The higher minimum lot value means that so much of what I’m interested in – the Royston Coopers and Tom Eckersleys – just don’t appear there any more. But these posters also not turning up anywhere else instead. So where have they gone? Are you sitting on a heap of these things and don’t know what to do with them these days? In which case, I might be able to help.

While I’m on about auctions, I should for the sake of completeness tell you that Poster Auctioneer have a new auction coming up tomorrow, but again with very little British interest in there, so you’ll have to make do with this Donald Brun instead.

Most of their posters are Swiss, which isn’t unreasonable for an auction house in Switzerland. What’s more puzzling is that Poster Connection, who are in the States, also have an auction stuffed with Swiss posters this time round. You can choose between an ample selection of Swiss graphics.

Hans Neuburg, 1966, est. $360

Or simply posters for Switzerland.

Herbert Leupin, 1949, est. $500

There are a very few British posters in amongst all the snow and sans serif, of which the most interesting is this Norman Weaver.

Norman Weaver, 1948, est. $500

With a rarely-seen Abram Games coming up a close second.

Abram Games, 1947, est. $600

But all is not lost. Swann Galleries have promised me that there are some lovely London Transport pieces in their forthcoming auction. I’ll let you know as soon as it appears online.

When did you last see an auction?

auctions

So, spring is in the air and the auctions are springing up like dandelions on the lawn. Christies is tomorrow, as mentioned before, and in the meantime two more catalogues have popped up on the web, Onslows and Van Sabben, with auctions on the 18th May and 4th June respectively.

I’ll start with Onslows first, because it is a great soup of an auction and I don’t quite know what to think of it. All of the usual subjects – cruises, railways, travel posters – are represented as you’d expect, but with very few jumping out at me demanding to be either bought or written about. I quite like this Lander, partly because if the Isle of Man is in any way continental, I am an otter.

Eric Lander, 1960, est. £500-700

Our non-existent friend Ralph Mott is also represented with several posters, this being my favourite, mainly for the slower-moving world which it evokes.

Ralph Mott, n.d., est. £150-200

There are also pages – and I mean pages – of wartime propaganda posters from both world wars. Unfortunately, most of them are visual proof of the fact that most wartime posters were not masterpieces of design. And I can’t even find a single one which I really love, this is about as good as they get.

Anonymous, est. £100-150

But not all is doom and gloom if you wander through the catalogue. This Rex Whistler is battered, but still lovely through the creasing and tape.

Rex Whistler, 1930, est. £300-400.

Even better (if you’re me, at least) are a selection of post-war London Transport posters. Probably the most noteworthy is this Bawden.

Edward Bawden, 1936, est. £300-400

But there are other treasures too.

Abram Games, 1964, est. £200-300

Enid Marx, 1964, est. £150-200

Peter Robeson, 1956, est. £100-150.

I’ve always loved that last Robeson poster. Although it’s called ‘When did you last see your Velasquez?’ it’s much more about being contemporary than art historical; in fact it’s like the essence of the mid-1950s distilled onto a single poster. All of which means that, in my book at least, it’s a bit of a bargain at that estimate. But I’m likely to be wrong on that one.

There’s quite a lot of overlap between Onslows and Van Sabben too. Obviously they’ve both got a lot of foreign posters of various sorts, some of which are rather good.

Jean Colin, 1963, est. £250-300

Anonymous, est. £150-200

These are both from Onslows, but as you can imagine, Van Sabben has literally hundreds more.

Max Velthuys, est. €80

More surprising is the other thing they have in common, which is a selection of large format GPO posters by interesting artists. These two are in the Onslows sale:

Hans Schleger, 1942, est. £200-300

Manfred Reiss, 1948, ext. £200-250

While these three are from Van Sabben.

Beaumont, 1960 (?), est. €160

Rothholz, 1948, est. €280

Reiss, 1950, est €150

If only I were a GPO museum, then I’d go on a spending spree, as they’re probably my favourite things on offer. But there are a couple of other interesting items in Van Sabben too, like this pair of Reginald Mount posters.

Reginald Mount, 1950, est. €150

Reginald Mount, 1950, est. €180

The design of the latter one is almost good enough for me to overlook the fact that I am being addressed as Housewife again. I’m not sure if Mrs Housewife is better or worse.

Other than that, it’s the usual suspects here: a few war posters, a couple of railway posters, and, of course, a BOAC poster.

Abram Games, 1953, est. £500

I think they’re compulsory these days.

But for a small selection of posters (perhaps only 30 out of over a thousand) Van Sabben have managed to pull a few interesting ones out of the hat once again. Still don’t know if I’m actually going to buy anything though…

Going Underground

auctions

So, the Christies auction. Which is coming up on 5th November.

I do have to admit that I was a bit hard on it last week when I said that it didn’t containg anything I was interested in. This is not true, it just doesn’t have anything I can afford.

Austin Cooper 1933 London Transport Poster
Austin Cooper, 1933, est £800-1,200*

I think my cynicism might have been caused by Christies’ brand new ‘cool wall’ technology, which does let you browse through whole swathes of an auction at once (screenshot below). It moves and tilts and does all sorts of other fancy things too that I can’t show on here.

All of which has the side-effect of reducing the posters to small coloured blobs which are quite easy to dismiss. But I now have a PDF of the catalogue, which means that I like it a great deal more.

Picadilly express McKnight Kauffer London Transport poster 1932
McKnight Kauffer, 1932, est £600-800

What I like most is the first hundred lots or so. These are a stunning collection of pre-war London Transport posters, which all come, apparently, from one collection.

Vintage London Transport poster Betty Swanwick 1936
Betty Swanwick, 1936, est £600-800*

Lucky them, because it’s an incredible selection. I can hardly pick out my favourites. But I rather like the type on the Pears boats below.

Charles Pears London Transport poster 1935
Charles Pears, 1935, est £600-800

While this is just fantastic in every which way: subject, image, title and general un-Britishness.

Vladmir Polunin 1934 London Transport poster
Vladmir Polunin, 1934, est £700-900*

What’s interesting (if you’re me, at least) is that I had several of these posters on my wall when I was a student – only as postcards mind you.

Alan Rodgers London Transport poster 1930
Alan Rogers, 1930, est £600-800*

Frederick Manner, 1929, est £800-£1,200

Annie Fletcher, 1926, est £1,500-2,000

But I don’t think there has ever been a time when I could have afforded them (or indeed anything else nice from the period) so I ended up collecting, and interested in, post-war design. It goes to show how much taste is formed by necessity as much as pure aesthetic appreciation.

I shall also, have to mourn, once more, that I never bought one of this pair when it was for sale for considerably less than that at Rennies.

Edward Wadsworth London Transport pair poster 1936
Edward Wadsworth, 1936, est £1,00o-£1,500

It is also my duty to point out that there are not one but two rather good Edward Bawdens up for sale too, should you have a couple of thousand pound burning a hole in your pocket.

Edward Bawden London Transport poster 1936
Edward Bawden, 1936, est £800-1,200

Edward Bawden, 1936, est £600-800

Other than the swathes of London Transport joy, there are some railway posters, which are generally the usual suspects, apart from this Tom Purvis, from a series that I have always rather liked.

Tom Purvis 193o LNER poster
Tom Purvis, 1930, est £600-800

And this train-nerdy one which looks like a vision of the future rather than anything to do with British Railways. Does anyone know if it ever actually ran? And can I go on it?

Then there is the usual miscellany of Mucha, foreign travel and other odds and ends, of which these two Herbert Bayers are probably the most interesting.

Herbert Bayer 1930 Exhibition poster
Herbert Bayer, 1930, est £1,000-£1,500

Herbert Bayer, 1953, est £1,000-£1,500

Despite all of these wonderful things, I am nonetheless still going to complain. And, as usual, my complaint is about Christies’ minimum lot price. It’s supposed to be £800, although given the number of posters estimated at £600-800, they’ve clearly softened their line a bit these day.

It has two rather unfortunate effects. One is that there is very little post-war design about at all – and what there is ain’t British. Apart from the Herbert Bayer above, there are a few kitschy railway posters and then these two rather fabulous American posters by Stan Galli from 1955 and 1960.

But that’s your lot, and I, for one, am disappointed.

The other, and perhaps more serious one, is that there are far too many multiple lots. For example, the Alan Power Speed poster above, also comes with “two posters by T. Eckersley and E. Lombers”. Eh? Surely these are things of value in their own right? And that’s not the only one – Electricity Supercedes St Christopher comes with six, count them, six other London Transport posters. While this fabulous Herry Perry comes with four.

Herry Perry, London Transport poster 1930
Herry Perry, 1930 est £700-900

I’ve asterisked all the ones which are parts of multiple lots, just so you can see precisely how many there are.

Now, why does this annoy me? One reason is that there are tons of posters in this catalogue that I just can’t look at. Being based in the sticks, I can’t just wander down to South Kensington and take a look at the other parts of the lots. Yes, I could interrogate someone at Christies and ask for pictures of all of them (I have their name, and I may just do that), but it rather takes the point out of there being a catalogue. Furthermore, it seems rather a retrograde step. One of the great things about the internet is that auctions not only all over Britain but internationally too have become available to everyone. You no longer need to be there to see what is on offer, and to bid. But the Christies catalogue takes some of that away from me, and I think it’s a shame.

Perhaps even more problematic, though, is that multiple lots make it harder to value individual posters. When the Alan Power is sold, will its value be for itself alone, or for the two Eckersley/Lombers which come with it? How shall we tell what share of the worth comes to them – or perhaps they will be bought by an Eckersley collector who will sell the Power on elsewhere. Then who can tell what the value of anything is? Not me, that’s for certain.