Boat Race Poster 1935 – Bernard Leslie Kearley and Kate M Burrell

Boat Race Poster 1935 Boat Race Poster 1935 by Bernard Leslie Kearley & Kate M Burrell The annual Boat Race between rowing crews teams from two of England’s most prestigious universities Oxford and Cambridge Universities has been one of London’s most important sporting fixtures since it began in 1829. The event was regularly attended by more than a quarter of a million people who would make their way to the banks of the River Thames to watch the famous sporting event. The boat race was so popular and lucrative for the Underground Group that the company would produce posters every year to promote the event. The first Underground Boat Race poster was issued in 1911. It was designed by Charles Sharland and was a simple single colour, blue on white print. The Underground logo appeared above a line illustration of a rowing crew. It was the start of an ongoing annual publicity campaign that encompassed other boat races and regattas. Underground posters were produced to advertise Twickenham (1910), Richmond (1912), Kingston (1914) and Molesey (1924, 1925, 1927 and 1928). This University Boat Race Poster 1935 was produced for London’s Underground Group by not one, but two artists, Kate M Burrel and Bernard Leslie Kearley. The two artists had already produced a poster design advertising the 1924 Boat Race. The Underground Electric Railway Company (UERL), requested the pair produce a second design for the 1935 event. Burrell and Kearley were regular contributors of poster designs to both the Underground Group and London Transport. Burrell worked with the UERL for a decade between 1924 and 1934 and Kearley between 1924 and 1927.  The two artists produced several art-deco influenced posters jointly, including the 1924 posters for Trooping The Colour, the May Day at Hyde Park poster and the poster for the 1924 Boat Race. What is The Boat Race? The Boat Race is an annual event between crews from the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. It is one of the world’s oldest boat race and is known across the world.  The race attracts around 6.2 million television viewers for the men’s race and about 4.8 million for the women’s. More than 250,000 line the banks of the River Thames to watch the event in person. The Boat Race 6 April 1935 The 1935 Boat Race was held on 6 April. It was the 87th time the two rival university rowing crews had competed for the honor of winning the race. The ‘Light Blues’, Cambridge entered the race as reigning champions having beaten the ‘Dark Blues’, Oxford by four and a quarter lengths the previous year. In the 1935 race, Cambridge beat Oxford by four and a half lengths with a winning time of 19 minutes 48 seconds. It was Cambridge’s twelfth consecutive win taking the overall record in the event to 46-40 in Cambridge’s favour. Other stunning Boat Race Posters In the decades between the first boat race poster in 1911 and this Boat Race Poster 1935 created by Bernard Leslie Kearley & Kate M Burrell, around twenty underground posters were produced by the UERL to promote Britain’s most iconic boat race. Many popular poster artists such Percy Drake Brookshaw, Anna Katrina Zinkeisen, Anne Hickmott, Richard T Cooper and Charles Paine, have designed at least one poster design for this world-famous event. Whether you love the cities of Oxford and Cambridge, you’re a fan of the boat race or just appreciate these historic universities, these posters are sure to brighten up your home, digs or halls.   Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as a fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints. The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and frame for a great price.