KENNETH SHOESMITH (1890-1939) ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS / SOUTHERN RAILWAY. 39 3/4x25 inches, 101x63 1/2 cm. Condition B+: losses in left corners; time-staining and tears at edges; masking tape on verso and minor tape in text; text banner affixed to bottom margin. Paper. A self-taught artist, Shoesmith served as a cadet aboard the HMS Conway from the age of 16 to 18. His time at sea honed his already appreciable artistic skill and he went on to have a fruitful career largely as a marine artist. Primarily, he represented the Royal Mail Line and the Southern Railway, but he also designed posters for the LNER, Canadian Pacific, Cunard and other liners. He also designed posters for the railways that did not have maritime themes. Here, residents and visitors languorously go about their daily activities on the sun-speckled Pantiles - the Georgian colonnade at the center of this resort town in Kent. Shoesmith, in his deft attention to detail, depicts several well-known landmarks, including the Pantiles Clock and the Chalybeate spring, from whose well the town takes its name.
