The power of advertising art

Commercial art – the slightly derogatory term given to artworks produced exclusively for branding and promotional purposes – is increasingly appreciated in the marketplace. Rarely is the mood and style of an era better captured than in its advertising.

Precious little is known about Albert Edward Halliwell (1905-1987) but his blue-chip clients in the kaleidoscopic world of inter-war commercial art included London Underground, Wimbledon, Kellogg’s, Bryant & May, Boots the Chemist and the Regent’s Park Zoo. Some of his designs became well-known travel and wartime posters.

However, he later chose to apply his talents to teaching, working at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in Camden from 1948 until 1970.

The contents of Halliwell’s studio comprise hundreds of designs from the 1920s, 30s and 40s that were intended to be worked up into posters, product labels and advertisements. Mostly done in gouache with pencil annotations, they are typically much smaller in scale than the finished posters or labels and leave spaces for typographical information such as event dates, tube and bus stations etc.

It includes both Halliwell’s best works (some used, others apparently rejected) and pieces by students or employees that he clearly admired and thought worth keeping for posterity.

Many elements of the collection – owned by the artist’s family - were previously used in a loan exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Halifax. They come for sale at the Canterbury Auction Galleries on April 11 in a sale of just over 300 lots (many of them multiples).

Estimates range from £60-80 for minor studies to £3000-5000 for one of the more iconic works in the collection – the original design for a Second World War ‘Dig for Victory’ poster.

This and a selection of other works appear below.

Dig for Victory Now, a gouache poster design by AE Halliwell signed and dated '42, 1942, 20 x 14in - £3000-5000 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.

Henley Regatta, a 1930s pencil and gouache poster design for the London Underground by AE Halliwell, unsigned, 6 x 10in -£150-200 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.

Green Line Express Coach Service, a 1930s pencil and gouache poster design by AE Halliwell, unsigned, 9 x 12in - £200-300 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.

Bryant and May Matches, a 1930s pencil and gouache poster design by AE Halliwell, signed, 20 x 12in - £500-700 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.

Design for the zoo, a pencil and gouache poster design by AE Halliwell signed and dated Nov 1927, 20 x 12in - £600-800 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.

Speed, a 1930s pencil and gouache poster design by AE Halliwell, 11.5 x 18.5in - £500-700 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.

The Wonder of the Age - Television", a 1960s mixed media poster design by FT Haslett, 21 x 14in - £80-120 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.