LONDON TRANSPORT POSTERS and AUSTIN REED After Eric and I came to London, we took work to show to Christian Barman. After the War we dealt with Harold Hutchinson. He then retired and then it was Mr.Levy. During Levy's time the Chairman was Kenneth Robinson who really liked my work. His wife was an art teacher in a school. A marvelous man. After LT he went to the Arts Council. When Robinson left LT all commissioned work seemed to cease. I knew of the London Transport posters when I was studying at Salford. They were reproduced in the magazine Art and Industry. I liked the simplicity of them and the very fact they were different from all the other posters on the hoardings. And that they were like the Continental Posters. They were shown in sets of five outside the station. It was like a Gallery - all spick and span. Frank Pick saw to that. They were all over London so it was good publicity for the designers. London Transport had a name then, a prestige organisation. It launched me- marvelous to get the chance. Harold Rhodes of the School at Salford was responsible for our introduction to London Transport. He knew Frank Pick who agreed to look at our portfolio and then we were summoned to see Christian Barnum.
CHRISTMAS 1937, POSTERS FOR LONDON TRANSPORT Barman's secretary would ring up and say Mr.Barman would like to see you at one o'clock. Or have tea with him. He'd tell you what the problem was, then when you had finished it, you'd make an appointment to see him.He would always define the problem for you at the beginning but always had to consult with Mr. Pick who insisted on seeing all the designs. Pick was a big chap, six foot two at least, and a strong personality. He got things done. Jack Beddington was another one like that. Barman treated artists exceptionally well. You didn't get much contact but he rarely turned things down. He had been editor of the Architectural Review and Pick got him for the LT. You couldn't get away with anything with Barman, but he really liked my work. Other commissions came from people seeing my work at LT stations.
THE LONDON MUSEUM POSTER I felt I couldn't do another version of the well known Kauffer poster [Great Fire] but had to find a symbol that meant London. Mary and I went to the Museum and there was lots of stuff which could have been found in other Museums. In one case I saw a model of a hansom cab. I thought, that's London. I did another design that used the figure of Nell Gwynn. The Kauffer by the way was a lovely image. One of my favourites. THE LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM POSTER The problem was to suggest the history of transport, and I decided to evoke the development of the Bus from the old style model to the open bus. Then I jumped to called up the image of a man and woman on the bus, and then to the posters on the side of the Bus. LT had an exhibition of my work in 1984. It was successful but didn't make any difference at all. It all seemed to end after Levy, when they decided to use more photographic material and more commercial ideas . A lost opportunity for artists.
Among the other designers used by LT I got to know Hans Schleger who had been in America after leaving Germany. He lived in the same block of flats as Kauffer, Swan Court in Chelsea. I've never understood why he is not better known, a great typographer, a designer of symbols, posters and illustrations.
They said they wanted me to design a poster for their own collection of posters and that they'd like to use this particular engine that I think was one of the earliest ones used in the system when there were a number of companies. I didn't mind - we all love engines.I went along with a fiend of mine who had a camera. We took photographs of the front, the side, three-quarters. I chose the front view because it was the most dramatic. I think Abram Games did a very fine poster many years ago for LT with a modern train coming straight at you. So - it was the front of the train, and I did a series of drawings. Originally I had much more in it. So I took it further taking what I could away until I got it right. I don't think I could have loaded it with more colours. It had to be celebratory.
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OTHER PATRONS Austin Reed didn't approach me directly, but it came through Charles Wood of Pritchard Wood, a marvelous agency. I worked for Simmons and also John Gloag who was at AR. Odd man, smoked a clay pipe. rather like Kipling. I met Beddington [Shell] a number of times but didn't see him as often as Barman.
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