Collections

The Railway Poster in Britain

Great Western Railway (GWR)

The Great Western Railway was the only pre-existing company that continued, in an enlarged form, after 1923. It had no reputation for producing high-quality poster advertising. The first efforts of the new GWR were hardly inspiring, with an over-reliance on printing firms for design and a frequent concernfor economy.

Great Western Railway Devon's Moors poster

Great Western Railway
Great Western to Devon's Moors 
By Edward McKnight Kauffer, 1933
© National Railway Museum / Science& Society Picture Library

Improvements came, however, and in 1933 a series of six posters of Devon and Cornwall was commissioned from the American designer Edward McKnight Kauffer. He was highly regarded by the new school of poster artists and by the critics. His posters caused much comment but were not to everyone's taste. Furtherinnovation followed in 1936 with the appearance of a series of posters by Ronald Lampitt in an unusual mosaic style.

Great Western Railway Devon poster

Great Western Railway
Devon by Ronald Lampitt, 1936 
© National Railway Museum / Science & Society Picture Library