{"title":"Early 20th-century Original Postcard Artwork","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis charming group of early 20th-century English pictures the original artwork for reproduction on postcards. The subjects are diverse: natural history birds from George Rankin (1864–1937); Art Deco bathing girls from Charles Thomas Howard (1865–1942); and cute child cartoons from Phyllis Purser (1893–1990). But the images share a colourful, optimistic aesthetic that translated perfectly to the postcard medium.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe opening decades of the 20th century was a world without the internet, instant messaging or widespread access to telephones. Advances in colour printing, however, enabled mass communication by print like never before. By the 1920s commercial art became a bona fide profession, and with it the professional figure of the graphic artist. The success of these artists relied on their ability to reach the largest audience and to produce a popular image.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePostcards were a fast form of communication, and sending and collecting of postcards became a national craze. Unbelievably, in 1913, more than 900 million postcards were posted in Britain. Postcard art, therefore, has a significant place in the history of cultural interaction. Our examples exemplify prevailing fashions of the day: tastes for nostalgia, patriotism and family, along with leisure and recreation, and new opportunities for women in Britain after World War I.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0930\/4306\/5161\/collections\/TC199-KB-188.jpg?v=1742299034","url":"https:\/\/somersetandwood.com\/de\/collections\/early-20th-century-original-postcard-artwork.oembed","provider":"Somerset \u0026 Wood Fine Art","version":"1.0","type":"link"}