Frank Sherwin (1896–1986) was a British artist from

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

best known for his railway posters promoting travel destinations in the British Isles. He was a member of the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

as well as the

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London. History In 1831, the ...

Early life and education

Sherwin was born in

and grew up in a house named Elm Wood on Thornhill Road. His parents were Samuel and Fanny Sherwin. His father was a chemist who belonged to the Derby Sketching Club. He had three siblings and two live-in servants. He studied at the Derby School of Art and then in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

, at the Heatherleys School of Fine Art.

Career

He specialised in

watercolours Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...

, but is remembered for the railway posters which promoted travel to holiday destinations around Britain and were very much part of the railways in the days of steam. He did posters for GWR, LMS, LNER & British Rail. During the war he was an advisor to the War Office on the camouflage of air fields. It is also said that some of his paintings were used in wartime posters. In 1957, British Rail commissioned Sherwin to paint the Ilkey Lido for a poster.

Personal life

For the last forty-six years of his life, Sherwin lived in

Cookham village Cookham is a historic River Thames, Thames-side village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north-eastern edge of Berkshire, England, north-north-east of Maidenhead and opposite the village of Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, Bourne ...

in Berkshire. Sherwin died in 1986 at

Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

Legacy

There was an exhibition of his work at the Cookham Festival in 2007. Cookham is also the village of Sir

Stanley Spencer Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE Royal Academy of Arts, RA (30 June 1891 – 14 December 1959) was an English painter. Shortly after leaving the Slade School of Art, Spencer became well known for his paintings depicting Biblical scenes occurring as if ...

, one of England's most renowned artists. In 2015, a rare 1939 railway poster signed by Frank Sherwin, with the words "Penzance in the Cornish Riviera" was expected to sell for 1,000 pounds at auction.

References

External links

Full Listing of Railway Carriage Prints (from Greg Norden)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwin, Frank 1896 births 1986 deaths Alumni of the Heatherley School of Fine Art English artists Artists from Derby British railway artists