North East Coast Industries - poster by Frank Brangwyn RA, issued by the London & North Eastern Railway, 1928
Where to start? Three wonderful things come together in this poster; The LNER's advertising and publicity. Frank Brangwyn's skill as an artist, etcher and lithographer. A poster dealing with industrial and commerical subjects.
Of all the 'Big Four" group of British railway companies it is generally acknowledged that the LNER was the most adventurous and had developed a strong brand identity largely around the quality and output of its advertising and publciity, following on from the example of the London Underground group. From early on in the company's existence they had commissioned noted artists to illustrate posters and Sir Frank Brangwyn RA (1867 - 1956) was certainly a noted artist. Brangwyn excelled in etching and in lithography and undertook several posters for the LNER. In this it also appears he lettered the poster as it does not use the generally standard application of Gill Sans that the LNER had adopted by this date. This well reproduced plate appears in a trade journal.
That the company chose to illustrate the typical industries its lines and freight services served is also of interest. They did a few small series of 'Industry' posters as did the London Midland & Scottish Railway who also had commissioned artists in the 1920s to cover the subject, and British Railways alos followed suit after nationalisation. The North East Coast, in the heartlands of the LNER, was one of the UK's greatest concentrations of heavy industry based around coal, iron and steel and this poster captures the scale, grime and humanity associated with this toil.
North East Coast Industries - poster by Frank Brangwyn RA, issued by the London & North Eastern Railway, 1928
Where to start? Three wonderful things come together in this poster; The LNER's advertising and publicity. Frank Brangwyn's skill as an artist, etcher and lithographer. A poster dealing with industrial and commerical subjects.
Of all the 'Big Four" group of British railway companies it is generally acknowledged that the LNER was the most adventurous and had developed a strong brand identity largely around the quality and output of its advertising and publciity, following on from the example of the London Underground group. From early on in the company's existence they had commissioned noted artists to illustrate posters and Sir Frank Brangwyn RA (1867 - 1956) was certainly a noted artist. Brangwyn excelled in etching and in lithography and undertook several posters for the LNER. In this it also appears he lettered the poster as it does not use the generally standard application of Gill Sans that the LNER had adopted by this date. This well reproduced plate appears in a trade journal.
That the company chose to illustrate the typical industries its lines and freight services served is also of interest. They did a few small series of 'Industry' posters as did the London Midland & Scottish Railway who also had commissioned artists in the 1920s to cover the subject, and British Railways alos followed suit after nationalisation. The North East Coast, in the heartlands of the LNER, was one of the UK's greatest concentrations of heavy industry based around coal, iron and steel and this poster captures the scale, grime and humanity associated with this toil.