18/10/2011

Issued by the National Railway Museum

Final preparations are being made to the National Railway Museum's brand new art exhibition, ‘The Art of Advertising', which is part of a year long celebration of art across Yorkshire supported by Tate.

The brand new exhibition at the Museum will open to the public on 15 October and will explore the subtle art of advertising in posters commissioned by the London Midland & Scottish Railway Company (LMS) in 1924 from 16 Royal Academicians.

A hot topic in the world of advertising and design in the 1920's was whether fine artists could create successful posters. At this time, posters were receiving a lot of criticism for being tasteless. Alongside this graphic design was beginning to establish itself and rules for good poster design were beginning to emerge. Bold designs using flat colours, simplified forms and firm outlines were becoming known as the ‘poster treatment'. The LMS, however took a radical stand against these emerging rules maintaining that posters should be artistic and pictorial.

On the advice of poster artist Norman Wilkinson, the LMS commissioned sixteen Royal Academy artists to produce paintings, which would be reproduced as posters, advertising tourist destinations and the railway's services to industry. These posters represented ‘all that is good and best in British Art'. Many of the paintings and published posters have been stored away in the National Railway Museum's unseen art collection, but visitors to the Museum this winter will now have the chance to see the artwork on display as part of a new exhibition.

Ellen Tait, Interpretation Developer at the National Railway Museum, said:
"The exhibition provides a unique opportunity to take a closer look at the The Art of Advertising with the display of original artwork alongside the poster series. The LMS were really proud of these posters, creating special displays of them at stations. They had a big impact in 1924 and were reviewed in national newspapers and the railway magazines. We're certain that they'll have just as much of an effect on art lovers and railway fans today."

‘The Art of Advertising' will compare and contrast the artists' usual work on loan from Tate and other Yorkshire collections, to the poster artwork from the Museum's National Collection to look at the effectiveness of taking a fine art approach to poster design.

This is the second exhibition to feature in the Museum's Art Gallery which opened in July 2011. Funded by The Foundation for Sport and the Arts, the purpose-built exhibition space will host an exciting programme of temporary exhibitions showcasing the Museum's unseen art collection alongside railway-inspired works of art from across the world. The National Railway Museum's vast art collection comprises of 11,222 Posters, 2,358 Prints and Drawings, 1052 Paintings and 1,500,000 Photographs, many of which have never been on public display.

Admission to the Museum and Art Gallery is free. The Art of Advertising exhibition opens on 15 October 2011 until January 2012. Further information about the Art Gallery and up coming exhibitions can be found at www.nrm.org.uk/artgallery.

ENDS

For more information contact:
Emma Rodgers, Press Officer, NRM
01904 686281
emma.rodgers@nrm.org.uk

Notes to Editors:
• Art in Yorkshire, supported by Tate, is a year long celebration of the visual arts in 19 galleries throughout Yorkshire. Works from Tate's Collection of historic, modern and contemporary art will be showcased through a compelling programme of exhibitions and events.

• The National Railway Museum (NRM) in York covers over 200 years of railway history and its collections include over 100 locomotives , some 250 items of rolling stock and thousands of other objects - from posters and tickets to uniforms and silverware. Visitors can enjoy a fun family day out with the kids including an action-packed annual programme of special events and exhibitions. Admission to the museum is free. For more information visit www.nrm.org.uk.

• The National Railway Museum forms part of the National Museum of Science and Industry (NMSI), along with the Science Museum in London, the National Media Museum in Bradford and Locomotion - the National Railway Museum in Shildon.