Shell Book of Nature - Trees & Shrubs painted by S R Badmin, c 1960
In the days before we fully understood that the products Shell and other energy companies were selling us were making scenes such as this unlikely - in the UK now we seldom see such prolonged cold spells of weather even in winter. Anyhow, for now and in the middle of January let us revel in the wonderful work of Stanley Roy Badmin who provided this series commissioned from Shell Mex as part of that company's quite enlightened approach to corporate publicity. Badmin was an accomplished artist and illustrator and was in high demand for advertising work, book illustration and, for many years, greeting card design. His work here is typical of his output; meticulous and atmospheric, all very 'British".
The various nature and landscape series date from the 1950s and these prints, along with their descriptive text and a 'key plate' usually provided by Geoffrey Grigson, were issued as press adverts and also in poster form. It is as the latter I recall them on my school classroom walls. Here against a frozen winter's landscape Badmin finds some colour and form in the the midwinter. All from the warmth of inside!
Shell Book of Nature - Trees & Shrubs painted by S R Badmin, c 1960
In the days before we fully understood that the products Shell and other energy companies were selling us were making scenes such as this unlikely - in the UK now we seldom see such prolonged cold spells of weather even in winter. Anyhow, for now and in the middle of January let us revel in the wonderful work of Stanley Roy Badmin who provided this series commissioned from Shell Mex as part of that company's quite enlightened approach to corporate publicity. Badmin was an accomplished artist and illustrator and was in high demand for advertising work, book illustration and, for many years, greeting card design. His work here is typical of his output; meticulous and atmospheric, all very 'British".
The various nature and landscape series date from the 1950s and these prints, along with their descriptive text and a 'key plate' usually provided by Geoffrey Grigson, were issued as press adverts and also in poster form. It is as the latter I recall them on my school classroom walls. Here against a frozen winter's landscape Badmin finds some colour and form in the the midwinter. All from the warmth of inside!