Biography (1894 - 1899)
Header Photo: Don Quixote, c. 1895
The Beggarstaff Brothers
Design for a poster, black and brown paper cut-out pasted on to white paper
193 x 196.2 cm
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Enlarge Image
© Estates of James Pryde and William Nicholson
One of the Beggarstaff Brothers' most famous poster designs and created for the great actor-manager Sir Henry Irving, for a one act play entitled Don Quixote, but never used.
Beggarstaff Brothers: Biography >> Trivia >> Gallery >> Victorian Painters Index >> Beggarstaff Brothers rarities @ ebay.co.uk (direct link to items) >> Advertise >> Beggarstaff Brothers Books and Dvds available @ amazon.com
Beggarstaff Brothers ~ Biography
The Beggarstaff Brothers was the nom de plume of the painters James Pryde (1866-1941) and William Nicholson (1872-1949). Their design of posters and other graphic work lasted between 1894 and 1899
Their posters appeared at two big international shows of posters in London in 1894 and 1896 in the Westminister Aquarium. The organizer was the English poster enthusiast Edward Bella.
Years later Pryde recalled how:
'a friend told us he had heard there was going to be an exhibition of posters at the Westminister Aquarium, and we thought we would like to some for it ... we did some five or six large designs, not for any particular firm's commodity, but merely for a given article to which the firm's name could be applied ... Thus we did a design for pianos, cocoa, and so on ... We made them fairly large, for some were twelve feet high ... We decided that a silhouette treatment was the best, and it had this advantage, that it had not been done before. Moreover, it was a very econimical way of reproducing a poster for reproduction, for the tones were all flat ... to get this flat effect, we cut out the designs in coloured paper and posted them on flat boards.'
Source: Victorian Painting
Beggarstaff Brothers ~ Trivia
One young artist influenced by the work of the Beggarstaffs was none other than Pablo Picasso. Indeed he was coming to London c. 1900 to find out more about their work when he was sidetracked and ended up in Paris. Moreover, their influence is clear in some of the early Picasso work.
Further Reading: The Beggarstaff Posters
Beggarstaffs ~ Gallery
The key works in the career of these extraordinary artists. Influential still today.
Beggarstaff Brothers
Don Quixote
Beggarstaff Brothers Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estates of James Pryde and William Nicholson
Phil May
The Beggarstaffs, 1895
Beggarstaff Brothers Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estate of Phil May
Beggarstaff Brothers
Harper's Magazine
Beggarstaff Brothers Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estates of James Pryde and William Nicholson
Beggarstaff Brothers
Rowntree's Cocoa
Beggarstaff Brothers Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estates of James Pryde and William Nicholson
Beggarstaff Brothers
A Trip To China Town (American Musical Comedy)
Beggarstaff Brothers Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estates of James Pryde and William Nicholson
Beggarstaff Brothers
Kassama Corn Flour
Beggarstaff Brothers Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estates of James Pryde and William Nicholson
Beggarstaff Brothers
Hamlet
Beggarstaff Brothers Fine Art Prints @ amazon.com (direct link)
© Estates of James Pryde and William Nicholson
Links
Beggarstaff Brothers: Biography >> Trivia >> Gallery >> Victorian Painters Index >> Beggarstaff Brothers rarities @ ebay.co.uk (direct link to items) >> Advertise >> Beggarstaff Brothers Books and Dvds available @ amazon.com
