The Band

Original Lithograph, 1949, signed by the artist in the stone, beneath is printed : “The Band” by Raoul Dufy. S.P 26. Published by School Prints Ltd and printed in Great Britain by W S Cowell Ltd.
Size: 497 x 860 mms (19.5 x 30” Inches)
Condition: In excellent condition
Edition: Unknown size
Printed by : Baynard Press
Reference: SP25
Condition: Generally in good condition.
Note: School Prints, published in the 1940s, are now recognised as a high water mark of the post-war artistic exuberance and optimism that culminated in the Festival of Britain. Now fifty years on, it is remarkable to find surviving original stock of these splendid prints. The idea behind School Prints Ltd was brilliant and simple. Commission good artists to create original lithographs which would be editioned in very large numbers and sold cheaply to those schools adventurous enough to subscribe to the scheme. Thus, would it be possible for children in school to enjoy a direct and continuous contact with real works of art. In her introductory letter to artists, Brenda Rawnsley, whose idea it was, wrote'We are producing a series of auto-lithographs, four for each term, for use in schools, as a means of giving school children an understanding of contemporary art'. If that somewhat ambitious aim were not to be fulfilled, the prints would in any case enliven corridor walls and bring a splash of welcome colour into dull assembly halls.