Clifford and Rosemary Ellis

London Underground Map (1935)

Original vintage poster

103 x 64 cm

Signed in the plate ‘Clifford & Rosemary Ellis ’35”.

Printed by Waterlow & Sons Ltd for London Transport.

Provenance: the artists’ studio.

This marvellous original vintage poster was designed for London Transport and encourages shoppers to use the Tube to do their Christmas shopping. The map of London’s streets of shops, including Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Bond Street, are set on the background of a Christmas shopping list and various items to be purchased. The cross-section of a Christmas cracker at the top of the poster includes the joke: ‘Why is a railway timetable like life?’ – ‘Because it is full of ups and downs.

London Transport was the forerunner of London Underground. During the 1930s London Transport commissioned over forty posters a year from well-known artists such as Laura Knight, CRW Nevinson, Edward Wadsworth, Eric Ravilious, Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland, and Edward McKnight Kauffer – a bold policy that did much to popularise avant-garde artistic styles that stemmed from Cubism, Futurism and Abstraction.

Condition: very good; backed to linen.

If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056.

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