This fantastic feast for the eyes has everything
It was an era after a World War when there was much optimism for the future, when trains and planes and automobiles became sleeker and faster, new materials such as stainless steel and plastic were introduced, and when Art Deco came into its own, writes Michael Holland.
The 1920s became the decade when Art Deco flourished, influencing clothes, skyscrapers, cinemas, cars, radios, jewellery and advertising.
Charles Holden designed many Underground stations with Art Deco adornments around this time, which still remain amongst the most eye-catching of stations. Several are now listed buildings. As the Underground network grew so did the advertising industry that informed travellers about days out they could make by tube train, cheap fare offers and the best times to travel.
And now, a hundred years after those posters adorned our bus and train stations, the London Transport Museum has an exhibition of some of the finest work by those graphic designers.
There is a segment that pays homage to France where the ‘Arts décoratifs’ style first became fashionable, but that soon gives way to the tremendous amount of output in London for its Underground system. Beautiful artwork enticed us to the theatre, to West End shops, the river at Richmond, the gardens at Kew, and the annual Boat Race. Bold primary colours would have grabbed the attention of the busiest commuter in those post-war days. As they still do now.
There is also a section that shows how those early Modernists have impacted on contemporary artists. A print by Paul Catherall, currently one of Transport for London’s most popular poster artists, shows that some trends never fade. Other artists used in recent years provide evidence that Art Deco is almost synonymous with London Transport. Its former headquarters at 55, Broadway, above St James’s Park station earned Charles Holden the RIBA London Architecture Medal in 1931.
For younger visitors the exhibition is a new and joyous look at an art movement that will never go out of style. For another generation it is a chance to look back at, and be reminded of, ticket prices in old money, times when a day on the beach at Southend was a train ride away and dog racing was deemed to be a good night out.
Factor everything in with the amazing collection of buses, train carriages and a multitude of other brilliant artefacts on display in the Museum, then this fantastic feast for the eyes has everything you need for a touch of the new and much for the nostalgic.
Full details: https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/
