Walter Thomas was born in Liverpool and attended its College of Art between 1912–13 followed by two years studying art in London. His focus on maritime subjects culminated in a commission from the
Cunard White Star Line who appointed him to paint marine portraits of their great ocean liners which plied the North Atlantic route in the first half of the twentieth century. These paintings were used particularly to create spectacular posters.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Hard backed sturdy, well-worn album, half bound in calf over red cloth boards. Titled and inscribed to front board in the hand of the artist A Few Examples of Work Designed & Executed by Walter Thomas. The 14 card leaves within burst full of the artist and designer’s personal photographs, poster designs, paper cuttings and ephemera. The contents, all pasted in, include:
A b/w poster designed for the Southern Railway. Direct Service from London. Southampton. Gateway to the Seas. Pasted to front pastedown. Measuring 25cm x 18cm.
6 small b/w photographs of the artist in his studio alongside his large 16ft picture of the Queen Mary commissioned for the Cunard White Star Line; a b/w reproduction of the 16ft drawing measuring 26.5cm x 20cm; a b/w reproduction of an additional panel in relief for the Queen Mary measuring 27 cm x 15 cm.
A b/w poster designed and executed for the French Line (Normandie). Measures 24.5cm x 18cm.
A b/w photograph of a large plaster panel designed and executed for the Southern Railway. Dunkirk.
28 b/w photographs of stands and models designed for the Scottish Empire Exhibition 1938 for clients including Alfred Holt and Company, Blue Funnel Line (the world modelled in relief and a design for the Japanese Legation Conference) and the Isle of Man Government (Peel Castle, Villa Marina, Rushden Castle).
An interesting collection of newspaper cuttings from circa 1939 highlight the battle for more recognition and status for the ‘present day designer’ complaining of ‘the subordinate position occupied by the average designer in industry’. Chairman of the Liverpool branch of the Society of Industrial Artists MR FJ Price states ‘The old masters were not stood over… and why should we be. What the artist wants is not only to design, but to control.’ Walter Thomas subsequently took over the chairmanship to the society.
