Edward Bawden's England

Engraver, painter, illustrator and designer Edward Bawden (1903-1989) worked throughout his career as a commercial artist for companies such as London Transport, Fortnum and Mason, Shell-Mex, the Folio Society and Chatto and Windus. Apart from the years he spent in France, the Middle East and North Africa as a war artist, and later visits to Canada and Ireland, Bawden rarely travelled far from home, but found inspiration in the fields and farms of his native Essex, by the sea and in classic London scenes: Kew Gardens, the Royal Parks, the Tower of London and St Paul's Cathedral, as well as the iron and glass monuments of Victorian engineering such as Liverpool Street Station and the markets of Spitalfields and Smithfield.

Through 85 works held in the V&A's collections, this book pays tribute to England as represented by Bawden. These include Map of the British Empire, designed for an exhibition in 1924; the mural English Garden Delights, produced for the Orient Line Navigation Company in 1946; illustrations for books such as Good Food, The Gardener's Diary and Life in an English Village; publicity work for London Transport, Shell and Fortnum & Mason; the Lifeguards poster, created for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953; and a varied selection of linocuts and watercolours.