When trains were TRAVELLING ART GALLERIES
A new 60-minute film documentary produced by art collector and railway historian, Greg Norden and featuring BBC TV Coast presenter Nick Crane, takes us on a visual journey around Britain through the paintings that were displayed in railway carriages from the mid-1930s to the late 1960s. Competing railway companies had used photographs in their carriages from as far back as the early 20th century. But, by the middle of the century, railways started to commission some of the finest watercolour artists of the day to set them above the competition. Over 60 leading artists, including Rowland Hilder, Frank Mason, James McIntosh Patrick, Terence Cuneo, Jack Merriott, Frank Wootton, Frank Sherwin and Stanley Baldwin produced 500 paintings of Britain that were printed, framed and displayed in railway compartments. Greg Norden has been interested in railway art since a pile of prints were rescued by a railwayman colleague from a skip at Waterloo in the 1970s. So began his search to reunite these old prints and posters in a collection – a search that earned him the title as the leading authority on the subject. In the new film, Nick Crane, a recent president of the Royal Geographical Society, takes a closer look at the artists, using images from Greg’s unique collection – from rare black and white, colour-tinted and sepia photographs of Britain, through to the nostalgic images used in advertisements and notices during World War II – taking us on a scenic tour of Britain in the mid-20th century. Many of these artworks are shown alongside their equivalent modern landscape scenes providing a visual feast of watercolour art, railway history and British nostalgia.
To see the trailer, buy the DVD or stream the video visit www.travellingartgallery.com Telephone 01604 456882 or 07971 168299. Use voucher code ARTIST to buy the DVD at £17.95 (including free p&p) instead of £19.95 plus p&p.