London Underground has a long history, since the early 20th century, of commissioning artists and designers to produce posters for display in tube stations. In 1986, after a short lapse, London Underground began an active campaign of commissioning artists again with the aim of concentrating on fine art, rather than poster design. The essential difference was that artists were given a free hand without outside influence on the resulting work of art, unlike the commercial art route to advertising. The only specification was that all places had to be accessible by Underground. The resulting posters were never considered advertisements; rather, they were seen as good decoration for the stations, a passenger benefit and a way of continuing the Underground's long history of responsibility towards art and heritage.
Many famous artists responded to the offer of commissions, including Julian Trevelyan RA, John Bellany RA, Ruskin Spear RA, Bruce McLean, Sandra Fisher, RB Kitaj RA, Tom Wood, Philip Sutton RA, Frederick Gore RA, Howard Hodgkin, Anthony Green RA, Mick Rooney RA, Jeffrey Camp RA, Gillian Ayres RA, Norman Hepple RA, Martin Parr and many others.
These posters were all printed between 1986 and 1992 and have been stored ever since rolled in tubes. Their provenance is excellent. The printing varied to accommodate the wishes of the artists, sometimes requiring as many as six colours. Below are images of these posters with a clickable selection of 12 posters at the end. Our current stock of London Underground and London Transport posters is available to view at our gallery and online at www.AntikBar.co.uk (with worldwide delivery). Please contact us if you would like any more information on these posters, or any other poster listed on our website.
LT London Underground - Kew Gardens £550.00 /
LT London Underground - Soho £550.00 /
