page_title: London Underground
section_title: Posters and patronage of the arts
hierarchical_section_title: London Underground / Design and the arts / Posters and patronage of the arts
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Вверх по реке Лондонской подземкой.English: Up river; Humours no. 6, by Tony Sarg
context_page_description: The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.
  The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground passenger railway. Opened in January 1863, it is now part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines; the first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2017/18 carried 1.357 billion passengers, making it the world's 12th busiest metro system. The 11 lines collectively handle up to 5 million passengers a day.
  The system's first tunnels were built just below the ground, using the cut-and-cover method; later, smaller, roughly circular tunnels—which gave rise to its nickname, the Tube—were dug through at a deeper level. The system has 270 stations and 250 miles of track. Despite its name, only 45% of the system is underground in tunnels, with much of the network in the outer environs of London being on the surface.
context_section_description: Early advertising posters used various letter fonts. Graphic posters first appeared in the 1890s, and it became possible to print colour images economically in the early 20th century. The Central London Railway used colour illustrations in their 1905 poster, and from 1908 the Underground Group, under Pick's direction, used images of country scenes, shopping and major events on posters to encourage use of the tube. Pick found he was limited by the commercial artists the printers used, and so commissioned work from artists and designers such as Dora Batty, Edward McKnight Kauffer, the cartoonist George Morrow, Herry (Heather) Perry, Graham Sutherland, Charles Sharland and the sisters Anna and Doris Zinkeisen. According to Ruth Artmonsky, over 150 women artists were commissioned by Pick and latterly Christian Barman to design posters for London Underground, London Transport and London County Council Tramways.
  The Johnston Sans letter font began appearing on posters from 1917. The Met, strongly independent, used images on timetables and on the cover of its Metro-land guide that promoted the country it served for the walker, visitor and later the house-hunter. By the time London Transport was formed in 1933 the UERL was considered a patron of the arts and over 1000 works were commissioned in the 1930s, such as the cartoon images of Charles Burton and Kauffer's later abstract cubist and surrealist images. Harold Hutchison became London Transport publicity officer in 1947, after World War II and nationalisation, and introduced the "pair poster", where an image on a poster was paired with text on another. Numbers of commissions dropped, to eight a year in the 1950s and just four a year in the 1970s, with images from artists such Harry Stevens and Tom Eckersley. 
  Art on the Underground was launched in 2000 to revive London Underground as a patron of the arts. Today, commissions range from the pocket tube map cover, to temporary art pieces, to large scale permanent installations in stations. Major commissions by Art on the Underground in recent years have included Labyrinth by Turner prize winning artist Mark Wallinger to mark the 150th anniversary of the London Underground, "Diamonds and Circles" permanent works "in situ" by French artist Daniel Buren at Tottenham Court Road and "Beauty < Immortality”, a memorial to Frank Pick by Langlands & Bell at Piccadilly Circus.
  Similarly, Poems on the Underground has commissioned poetry since 1986 that are displayed in carriages.
caption: 1913 Underground poster by Tony Sarg
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