Quad Royal

A good home

crownfolio — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:06:02 +0000

Earlier this week, I went to the Design Archives at the University of Brighton, to see if they wanted Daphne Padden’s archives, or at least what we had acquired of it. Fortunately they were not only very delightful but also decided they did want them, and these three images are just a few of the [...]

Art overtaken by life

crownfolio — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:03:22 +0000

See my urgent book. I have had to read it very quickly, because tomorrow it goes back to the British Library for someone else to read urgently too. Now its subject – modernism, bombsites and English culture – might not seem immediately applicable to our concerns here on Quad Royal. But in fact it’s been [...]

A life of surprises

crownfolio — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:43:58 +0000

Odd times indeed on eBay. When I pointed out this poster last week, it was more for entertainment than investment value. But it went for £104. Not so funny indeed. I should have been less surprised that these two pieces of prime psychedelia went for £143 each. They’re by the wonderful Dan Fern and printer-fresh. [...]

The forgotten man

crownfolio — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:47:36 +0000

I’ve said it before, and I will no doubt get around to saying it again, but Harry Stevens is a very underestimated poster artist. That thought is mostly provoked by this 1954 poster, which we bought a copy of recently, (although one which I have to admit is slightly more battered than this picture). It’s [...]

A curiosity

crownfolio — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:48:19 +0000

Once again, found in the great warehouse of curiosities which is eBay. It’s a Fitton, not a poster this time but a painting. And I’m pretty sure it’s the same Fitton too. Certainly the signature matches those on the paintings in the Dulwich Art Gallery catalogue. But even were it not signed, that acid green [...]

Mr Black will see you now.

crownfolio — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:41:42 +0000

I haven’t finished with exhibition design, not by a long way. A copy of Misha Black’s Exhibition Design recently arrived in the post. He’s a much droller read than Beverley Pick – as well as designing some rather nice exhibitions too – so parts of that will definitely be appearing on here one of these days. [...]

Sax, vandalism and underwear

crownfolio — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:35:19 +0000

While eBay is still quiet after the holidays, there are a few things worth noticing up for sale at the moment. Of which my favourite are these musical instrument posters. There are nineteen of them altogether, and they were produced, so the listing usefully notes, between 1946 and 1949, with the editor of the series [...]

Posters on Display

crownfolio — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:35:42 +0000

There was more to the Beverley Pick book than could fit into one single post. Ironically, what got left out last time was posters: to be precise their display, as demonstrated in this wonderful illustration by Mr Pick. It particularly jumped out at me because we have the poster at the bottom left, which I wasn’t [...]

Anglo-American relations

crownfolio — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:40:07 +0000

In the cold dark days of winter, it’s always good to see an auction coming along to cheer me up. But with January being the season of abstinence and all that, it’s probably good that it’s an American auction, at Swann Galleries, so without too much that absolutely has to be bought. Anonymous, est. [...]

On Display

crownfolio — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:46:49 +0000

Having already written in praise of the ephemeral last week, it’s time to explore some more things that can never be recreated. I ordered this book ages ago, but it arrived just before Christmas after a slow sea crossing of the Atlantic. The wait was worthwhile, because it is full of wonderful things, even if, [...]