A Trip to Chinatown
Date1899
Artist
Beggarstaff Brothers
(British painters, illustrators, and poster designers, active 1893–1899)
Illustration CitationAdvertising poster for A Trip to China Town
Les Maitres de l'Affiche, pl. 184, 1899
Les Affiches Étrangères, pl. 184
MediumCommercial lithograph
Dimensionscomposition: 8 5/16 × 6 3/8 in. (21.1 × 16.2 cm)
sheet: 12 1/4 × 8 11/16 in. (31.1 × 22.1 cm)
sheet: 12 1/4 × 8 11/16 in. (31.1 × 22.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Helen Farr Sloan, 1986
Object number1986-165
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPRINT
Label TextThe Beggarstaffs were brothers-in-law James Pryde and William Nicholson. They opened a London advertising design studio in 1894. They were known for their new technique, collage, using cut pieces of paper to create their designs. Their originality - they ignored the prevailing trend of Art Nouveau - did not meet with financial success, and they dissolved their partnership after three years.The Beggarstaffs' original design for this poster was altered by the printer, Dangerfield, who decided to add a background color and pseudo-Chinese typography. These changes infuriated the Beggarstaffs and explains why the poster went unsigned, as they refused to put their name on a work they no longer regarded as their own. Still, the poster achieved world-wide acclaim, and, even in its own day, was considered extremely rare and expensive.