Easter/Your Chance to Change from Grey to Green
Artist
Vera Willoughby
United Kingdom, 1870 - 1939
Printer
Dangerfield Printing Co., Ltd.
United Kingdom
Date1935
MediumLithograph
Dimensions40 x 24 3/4 in. (101.6 x 62.9 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.7682
DescriptionFew posters emphasize the stark difference between central London and the outer edges of the city as explicitly as this design, which states that London Transport is the best way to seek “green” outside of the city’s “grey.” The couple is also shown walking away from dreary buildings toward lush parkland. Public holidays like Easter provided London Transport with a great opportunity to convince city dwellers to take advantage of the convenience and affordability of the Underground and enjoy a day trip or what was known as an “awayday.” It is impossible to know how many women designers contributed to these poster campaigns as many of the compositions are unattributed; however, Frank Pick, the managing director of the Transport Board, appreciated the fact that both the Arts and Crafts and Bauhaus movements accorded a degree of equality to women. Moreover, unlike other advertising agencies of the time that hired women specifically to promote goods and services to other women, Pick commissioned artists based on talent, often resulting in women artists taking on stereotypically “masculine” subjects. On View
Not on view
