Friday, October 29, 2010

RAILWAY ART - A NOSTALGIC GLIMPSE INTO A LOST AGE.

One aspect of the steam train era I get nostalgic about is the poster and carriage art. Before nationalisation the railway companies commissioned artists to produce posters to promote attractive destinations served by rail. There was once a fashion for showing prints of watercolour paintings in carriage compartments. Jack Merriott received several commissions both for posters and carriage prints.

Ceredigion Museum has a nice example of a poster designed by Merriott and the draft sketch design he submitted for it.


 

Here's a nice example of his watercolour of Mousehole, Cornwall used for a carriage print.


2 comments:

nadsart said...

I really love this kind of art don't you think somebody ought to recreate something like this?

Robert Kirk said...

Yes it would be good if railway stations and trains carried some form of visual art depicting beautiful destinations rather than brash advertising.