Herry Perry | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anne Erica Thackeray Perry (1897-10-16)16 October 1897 Bolton, Manchester, England |
| Died | 6 September 1962(1962-09-06) (aged 64) Hampstead, London, England |
| Education | Central School of Arts and Crafts |
| Known for | Wood engraving Book illustration Map making |
| Notable work | Transport for London posters |
| Movement | Golden Age of Illustration |
Heather "Herry" Perry (16 October 1897 – 6 September 1962) was agraphic artist, illustrator, and printmaker best known for her prolific design work forTransport for London andLondon Underground throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
Herry Perry did not use her birth name, opting to use a shortened version of the first name "Heather" which came from her middle name, Erica, theLatin name of theheather plant. Her nickname likely followed naturally given the simplicity and rhyme of the name "Herry Perry," especially compared to the lengthy name she was given at birth.[1] Her name occasionally appears as Herry-Perry.
Anne Erica Thackeray "Herry" Perry was born 16 October 1897, inBolton, Manchester to Ottley Lane Perry and Viola Travers Perry. Her second middle name, Thackeray, was bestowed in honor of a family connection toVictorian novelistWilliam Makepeace Thackeray. Herry was an only child until 1902 when the second of her parents' two daughters, Rosamund, was born.[1] The girls' father, Major Ottley Lane Perry, was a prominent cotton merchant andcouncillor who eventually served asjustice of the peace for theCounty of Middlesex and theBorough of Bolton. Additionally, he is credited with designing Bolton's first officialcoat of arms in 1890. His design remained the town's official coat of arms for several decades until 1958.[2] The Perry family moved fromBolton toKensington in 1900, and again toRoxwell in 1911. Throughout their childhoods, both Herry and her sister Rosamund werehomeschooled by an educatedgoverness.[1]
Perry attendedCentral School of Arts and Crafts in London in the mid-to-late 1920s. Between 1924 and 1927, she studied alongside students likeJoyce Clissold, John R. Biggs,Hilda Quick, and Frederica Graham.[3] While studying in London Perry created numerouswood engravings that are still held by the school today, includingMrs. Budgett,[4]Head of a Young Man,[5] andChristmas Card Farm Scene.[6] Her most notable work from this period is a large, 52 x 39 cm (20.5 x 15 in) wood engraving print of a cross-section of theCentral School of Arts and Crafts building onSouthampton Row, carved between 1925 and 1926.[7] The witty print features the basement and all five stories of the school, filled with different artistic departments and many hidden jokes from the artist. Classrooms include jewelry andenameling, sculpture, writing and illuminating,typography, and costume; but no classroom is busier than the second room in the basement simply labeled "Women." Perry'sCentral School Print was reissued byCentral St. Martins in 1990.[1]
It is not clear when she began, but Perry briefly worked as a qualifiedVoluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse.[8] She remained on the official register of assistant nurses until 1945 and continued to work in the medical field during thepost-war years.[1]
In early 1950, Perry began renting an empty room in her home inCamden to adoctoral student atKing's College namedBill Pearson. The pair were mostly friendly, though Pearson later said that Perry "really wanted someone who would occasionally take her out and share life with her friends," and he claimed he'd rather have been treated like aboarder. He rented the room for several years, the pair regularly having meals together for the length of his stay. Pearson was acloseted gay man and often brought married female friends to dinner at Perry's house in an attempt to stress his heterosexuality to his landlady, though there is no record of her suspicions of him nor disdain of such affairs.[9] Notably, Bill Pearson was a student from New Zealand studying in the United Kingdom, and homosexuality was notdecriminalized in either location until 1986 and 1967 respectively.[10]
Perry died inHampstead on 6 September 1962, at the age of 64, leaving her younger sister as her only surviving relative.[1]
By the time she retired in the late 1950s, Perry'sartistic portfolio included dozens of posters,wood engravings, drawings,playing card designs, book illustrations, maps, signs,murals, and more. She even contributed to the popularhumor magazinePunch.[11] In 1939, Perry was given the opportunity to design theGeneral Post Office's annualValentine's Day greetingstelegram. Her design was the last Valentine's Day telegram form offered by the General Post Office until 1951 due to the complications and shortages that resulted fromWWII.[12]
Perry was an early member of theSociety of Wood Engravers, an international organization dedicated to promoting the art ofwood engraving by providing artists with publicexhibitions to display theirwoodcut prints.[13] She was a student of one of the group's founders,Noel Rooke.[14] Perry was also heavily involved with theArts and Crafts Exhibition Society.[1]
Frank Pick, the administrator responsible for developingLondon Underground'svisual identity in the early 20th century, spotted Perry's work in 1927 and hired her to designThe Empire Under One Roof at The Imperial Institute.[15] By the time Perry leftTransport for London in 1938 she had completed more than fifty original posters for the organization.[3] The majority of her posters werelithographs orwood engravings, though she was not afraid to experiment. For example, her poster for the 1935 Rugby Cup Final featured threerugby playerscollaged fromLondon Undergroundtickets.[16]
In 1929, she completed a series of five new maps of theLondon Underground for the areas ofHounslow,Edgware,South Harrow,Kew, andMorden.[17] Several years later, she was chosen to illustrate numerous posters that advertised which flowers and fruits were in season in an attempt to encourage citizens to get outdoors and travel. These posters did not typically feature specific locations or timetables but highlighted seasonal plants likeblackberries,[18]crocuses,[19] andbluebells.[20] Some of her posters even discouraged people from pickingwildflowers, with the slogan "Leave them for others to see!"[21]
A 1934 campaign for theLondon Underground featured a series of posters by Perry that depicted the different things Londoners could enjoy, including theatres,[22] restaurants,[23]sightseeing,[24] and socializing.[25] She designed posters that featured the ticket prices and unique train schedules for special events likeWimbledon,[26]Lord Mayor's Show,[27]Crufts Dog Show,[28] andBertram Mills' Circus.[29] Perry was also responsible for posters that highlighted military events likeThe Royal Tournament,[30]RAF Displays,[31] andTrooping the Colour.[32]
A poster she designed forDerby Day in 1934 featured her interpretation ofPaolo Uccello'sThe Battle of San Romano. The bottom left corner had a small line of text from Perry that read: "...with apologies to Paolo Uccello" presumably in reference to her lighthearted take on his work.[33] That wasn't the first time she used the map dedication for a little comedy, as she dedicated the map ofKew "ToBucephalus,"Alexander the Great's horse.[17]
Perry found time to addbook illustration to her vast design portfolio soon after leaving art school in the late 1920s. In 1933, she was commissioned to illustrate thehandbookEntertaining with Elizabeth Craig.[3]Elizabeth Craig was a popularhomemaker, chef, and writer of dozens of books andcookbooks published through the 1980s. Perry created numerous magenta, black, and orange prints for the book that served as cover pages for chapters with names like "Bathing Party (mixed)" and "Tennis Party."[1]
Following the outbreak of war in 1939, Perry collaborated with David York to publish a lighthearted medical guide titledFirst Aid for First Aiders: Or, "What'll I do?".[34] Perry's typical witty illustrations accompanied fellow VAD medic David York's observations. The cover features a blackline drawing of the authors facing one another, with the cover's only color radiating from York's bright red hands.[1]
Anoil painting ofNew ZealanderBill Pearson painted by Herry Perry in 1952 serves as the cover of the biographyNo Fretful Sleeper: A Life of Bill Pearson written by Paul Millar in 2013.[9]
In 1932, Perry was commissioned bySir John Russell to paint a semi-circular mural atRothamsted Experimental Station, one of the oldestagricultural research stations in the world. The mural was completed onDerby Day that year and featured a timeline frommedieval agriculture to 1930s agricultural research.[3] She was paid £50 for her work, the 2022 equivalent of approximately £2,700.[39]
Between 1933 and 1935, Perry was contracted byCunard-White Star to paint a series of murals for the second-class children's playroom on theocean linerRMS Queen Mary.[17] Other artists who were commissioned to work on the RMSQueen Mary at around the same time as Perry includedEdward Wadsworth,Dame Laura Knight,Vanessa Bell,Anna Zinkeisen, andGilbert Bayes.[40]
Perry completed theQueen Mary murals from her studio inSwiss Cottage and subsequently had them sent over to the ship. One of these murals featured her interpretation ofNoah's Ark finally finding land, complete with a parade of animals of all varieties exiting the boat. Perry's ark was registered to 'Liverpool' and featuredtelephone wires, a kangaroo wavingAustralia's flag, and an impatientbeaver pushing a slow penguin out of the way. The ship sat upon a large boulder that served as a chalkboard for the children in the nursery.[41]
When theRMS Queen Mary was repurposed to carry soldiers in World War II, the nursery rooms were converted to offices. Perry's jungle murals remain in the background of several war-time images of men at work on the ship.[42]
In her older age in the 1950s, Perry's design clients expanded to include many London-area shop owners and barkeeps.[1] At the time, theRural Industries Bureau was encouraging all shop owners to update their signs to prepare for thecoronation ofQueen Elizabeth II, especially those that featured the word "Queen" in their names.[43] Perry designed dozens ofpub signs around London during this time, often using her boarder (Bill Pearson) as a model for the men she painted.[9] Most, if not all, of Perry's handpainted signs have since fallen victim to animals, weather, and time, though limited images and a short list of her sign credits remain.
During her lifetime, Perry showcased her work in exhibitions held by theSociety of Wood Engravers andArts and Crafts Exhibition Society and at locations like London'sRedfern Gallery.[8]
Perry was represented in both the 1928 and 1930 Royal Academy Exhibitions. Her 1928 entry was a house map onvellum paper, displayed near the works ofEthelwyn Baker,Dorothy Hutton,Ella Naper,George Edward Hunt, andMabel Chadburn.[45] She exhibited at least two works at the 1930 show: a fruit farm map that had been commissioned by theMinistry of Agriculture, and anestate map that was likely based on property owned by philanthropistSir Julien Cahn as it required his permission to be entered in the exhibition.[1]
A handful of Perry's work was included in theRoyal Academy'sExhibition of British Art in Industry in 1935. Gallery four of the exhibition was dedicated to the designs of furniture and carpets, and the nursery furniture exhibit featured a set of toys created by Perry. Several of the posters she designed forTransport of London were also displayed in thecommercial art section of the show.[46] Alacewooddoorstop carved by Herry Perry was included in theArts and Crafts Exhibition Society's 50th Anniversary Exhibition in 1938.[47]
Perry's art continues to be featured inart exhibitions and publications. Most recently, her posters have been included in showscurated specifically to showcase forgotten women designers and artists. The following is an incomplete list of exhibitions and publications that have featured Perry's work since her death in 1962:
TheLondon Transport Museum holds the largest public collection of Perry's work, and regularly offers lectures and educational opportunities that include information about her travel posters.[54] The museum counts nearly one hundred of her works in its collections, including original maps, posters, and book illustrations.[55] Her work can also be found at theYale Center for British Art, theMuseum of Modern Art, theVictoria and Albert Museum, and theUniversity of the Arts London.
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