AN ENGLISH CUBIST

WILLIAM ROBERTS:

Harold Hutchison

Illustration © The Estate of John David Roberts. Reproduced with the permission of the William Roberts Society. Catalogue information based on the catalogue raisonné by David Cleall. For this and full details of the exhibitions cited, see the links below. Any auction prices quoted may not include all fees and taxes, such as VAT and Artist's Resale Right charges.

Harold Hutchison, 1940 (signed and dated)
Red chalk, 33.0 cm x 22.9 cm

Harold F. Hutchison's wife, Helen, and her first husband, Mahmoud Hashim (qq.v), had, like the Robertses, been part of the social circle of A. P. de Zoysa in the late 1920s and early 1930s. From 1947 to 1966 Hutchison (1900–75) was publicity officer for London Transport, where he introduced the idea of the 'pair poster', designed in two halves: one for an image and one for text, to allow more scope for both the artist and the copywriter. Roberts's Hampstead Fair was produced for such a poster. Other artists commissioned by Hutchison included Edward Bawden, Abram Games and Tom Eckersley.
Hutchison also wrote London Transport Posters (London: London Transport, 1963), as well as books on Edward II, Henry V, Richard II and Sir Christopher Wren among other subjects, and The First Six Months are the Worst: A Book on Babies for Older Children.
For more on Hutchison, see here
PROVENANCE: Sotheby's 14 Oct. 1987 (£990) > Gillian Jason gallery > ? > Christie's 21 Nov. 2019 (£3,750)