Alongside more than thirty posters and original artworks, other material commissioned by Shell, including wall charts, film and travel guides, are also on show.
This is a new, unique exhibition on loan from the Shell Heritage Art Collection based at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu. It's one of the most important collections of commercial art in Britain, spanning years of advertising campaigns.
Our exhibition focuses on the early twentieth-century period, when Shell’s advertising was driven by ideas of travel and discovery, featuring the slogans ‘See Britain First’ and ‘Visit Britain’s Landmarks’.
Exquisite artwork depicting quirky and interesting places encouraged drivers to get on the road and explore the British Isles.
Local landscapes
Look out for a number of recognisable local scenes: Edward McKnight Kauffer created an evocative winter landscape of the New Forest, with dramatic tree branches reaching up against a moody sky.
Both the poster and Kauffer’s original artwork are on show.
There are famous Dorset landmarks, from Dominique Charles Fouqueray’s Lulworth Cove to Kimmeridge Folly, beautifully depicted by Paul Nash, with rays of sunshine and a seaweed-strewn shore.
There’s a bold, colourful depiction of the Great Globe at Swanage from Graham Sutherland, while the Cerne Abbas Giant from Frank Dobson is delicately dressed in cloud.