Poster from 1930s featuring Rye marshes up for auction in New York

Swann Auction Galleries is holding an event on May 25, highlighting the strength of early 20th century British poster design.

It will feature artists like Paul Nash and Edward McKnight Kauffer, who is seen as the leading light of poster design, especially for London Underground.

Known for his work from both world wars, as well as his Surrealist art, Paul Nash was one of the main artists involved in the advertising campaigns for Shell oil in the 1920s and 1930s, masterminded by John Betjeman and his boss in the Shell PR department, Jack Beddington.

Swann is offering the poster, Everywhere You Go/You Can Be Sure of Shell/The Rye Marshes, from 1932, depicting Nash’s landscape around Rye.

It is estimated at $1,500 to $2,000.

The sale also offers a range of other posters from the series, including McKnight Kauffer’s To Visit Britain’s Landmarks/You Can Be Sure of Shell/Dinton Abbey, from 1936, guided at $700 to $1,000.

McKnight Kauffer also designed a poster for London Transport for the Special Areas Exhibition/Charing Cross Station of 1936, set up to draw attention to areas of industrial decline and what the government was doing about the problem.

The London Transport Museum retains a copy of this poster in its archive. Another example will appear in this sale with an estimate of $1,500 to $2,000.

For more details of the sale, including registering to bid online, visit www.swanngalleries.com.

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