'Music in London' by Hans Unger and Eberhard Schulze (1964)
The Museum Depot in Acton holds a spectacular, let alone definitive, collection of some 6,000 transport posters. Each poster was commissioned by, initially, The Underground Electric Railways of London, then its successor London Transport and now Transport for London. The Museum’s poster collection truly represents the work of an extraordinary number of graphic artists over the past 113 years and reflects artistic trends and styles throughout this period whilst also producing some fascinating insights into contemporary London at any one time. Next to this collection can be found an ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ of around 1,000 pieces of original poster artwork, the majority of which were transformed into actual posters.
My initial training as a volunteer guide at the Museum Depot back in March 2003 took me to the art and poster store. Upon entering the original artwork store I was confronted with, what seemed to be, a portrait of the composer and pianist Johannes Brahms playing a piano. I am now forever drawn to this piece of artwork. Being well-acquainted with numerous names of piano manufacturers, piano being my main study when I was at music college, I know that Brahms performed on Bluthners, Bosendorfers and Bechsteins but I was unaware of him having performed on a ‘London Transport’ piano let alone heard of a ‘London Transport’ piano as depicted in the poster!
This original artwork for the poster, ‘Music in London’ was produced by the artist and mosaicist Hans Unger in 1951. Born in Germany in 1915, Unger studied poster design in Berlin before emigrating to South Africa as a freelance commercial designer. He joined the army during the Second World War, got taken prisoner by the Germans at Tobruk and escaped from an Italian POW camp. Having trudged across Europe by foot, he moved to London in 1948 and became a successful poster designer, working on several commissions with mosaicist Eberhard Schultze.
The ‘Music in London’ artwork was eventually published as a poster in 1964, the result of a collaboration between Unger and Schultze. It is interesting to note a few differences between the artwork and poster, notably the bells of the trumpet and trombone and the addition of text. Brahms was sometimes known as one of the ‘Three B’s’; we see the addition of a fourth ‘B’, Benjamin Britten, by way of a portrait. A mosaic of a violin scroll and pegs hangs above the piano whilst busts of Bach and Beethoven stand on the piano in front of a mosaic circle. Is that a piano leg dangling from the top left corner?
The entire piece of original artwork was produced as a collage so it makes comparisons between ‘before’ and ‘after’ even more fascinating. The original is very much 3D with the two brass bells extending out prominently from the backdrop. The two miniature busts are also 3D in the original. Only the caricature of Brahms, the stool and the piano are painted onto the backdrop. The final poster with the evocative text was, of course, two-dimensional. Meanwhile the search for the original London Transport piano continues!
Later in the year, the Museum is hoping to resume our Depot guided tours which would include tours of the art and poster stores. If you feel enthused and whenever it becomes possible, do come to Acton and see our world-renowned art and posters collections. I am certain that, like me, you will be blown away!
