Seduction or Instruction?: First World War Posters in Britain and Europe

Jim Aulich & John Hewitt (2007)

“This book makes a critical and historical analysis of the public information poster and its graphic derivatives in Britain and Europe during the First World War. Governments need public support in time of war. The First World War was the first international conflict to see the launch of major publicity campaigns designed to maintain public support for national needs and government policies. What we now know as spin has its origins in the phenomenon. Then, as now, the press, photography and film played an important role, but in the early 20th century there was no radio, television or internet and the most publicly visible advertising medium was the poster. Considering the museological and memorialising imperatives behind the formation of the war publicity collection at the Imperial War Museum, this fascinating book goes on to provide a constitutional and iconographical analyses of the British Government recruiting, War Loan and charity campaigns; the effect of the inroads of the poster into important public and symbolic spaces; a comparative analysis of European poster design and the visual contribution of the poster through style and iconography to languages of ‘imagined communities’ and the construction of the individual subject. The book will of interest to design historians, historians and readers involved with the study of communication arts, publicity, advertising and visual culture at every level.”

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Harold A. Pym

Harold A. Pym was born in England where he studied fine art in London under members of the RA. During the 1930s Pym’s design covered everything from portraits to illustrations for London weekly and daily newspapers, and commissions from major companies, such as the Ford Motor Company, to portray their products. During the Second World War Pym produced ‘now famous morale-boosting posters’ for the MOI, and emigrated shortly afterwards to Vancouver, Canada.

In 1970, Harold was commissioned by the British Columbia Government to go to Osake, Japan and create art for their Pavilion at the World’s Fair. Whilst living in Vancouver, Harold’s work included murals and guest room pictures for major hotel chains such as Hyatt Regency, Four Seasons and Canadian Pacific. Throughout his life, Harold studied the major religions, ‘New Thought’ movements and mystery school teachings, looking for the major inter-connectedness between art, science and religion.

Information collated from: Rockies.net, ‘Harold Pym’, http://www.rockies.net/~julian/pymb.htm, accessed October 4 2003.