The Boat Race — London Underground Poster, 1920
Unknown, 1920
No print size passed the check for this piece: at 8 x 10 in, Wrong shape: a 21% crop. We would rather show it than sell a soft print.
See pieces like it you can buyA London Underground Electric Railways poster advertising travel to the Boat Race, from the system’s celebrated 1920s design-patronage era. Frank Pick’s Underground commissioned the era’s best commercial artists — the Tube turned its own advertising into a design movement. A single sporting event, sold with the same graphic confidence as any destination poster. A transit system that decided to have taste.
- Maker
- Unknown
- Date
- 1920
- Medium of the original
- Travel poster
- Original held by
- Wikimedia Commons
- Credit
- Wikimedia Commons · via Wikimedia Commons
- Rights
- Cleared for print
- Catalogue number
- PA-00891
Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.
| Size | Why |
|---|---|
| 8 x 10 in | Wrong shape: a 21% crop |
| 8 x 12 in | 47 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 11 x 14 in | Wrong shape: a 20% crop |
| 12 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 16% crop |
| 12 x 18 in | 31 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 16 x 20 in | Wrong shape: a 21% crop |
| 16 x 24 in | 23 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 18 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 16% crop |
| 20 x 30 in | 18 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 24 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 21% crop |
| 24 x 36 in | 15 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
| 30 x 40 in | Wrong shape: a 16% crop |
| 36 x 48 in | Wrong shape: a 16% crop |
| 40 x 60 in | 9 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 377 x 600 px, srgb, sRGB IEC61966-2.1
- Tone
- Darks 45, lights 247 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0.3% clipped dark
- Colour
- 0% vivid
- Sharpness
- 37.06
The Poster Atlas
The national-parks series: the parks belonged to everyone, and so did the art.
All 46 pieces from The Poster Atlas
