Back in June, the Head of Collections and Exhibitions and I met with Dr Mike O’Mahony, the academic partner for the Art of Football project (University of Bristol). This was a great chance to meet Mike in person, hear about his teaching and research interests, and to discuss our ideas for the next steps of the project.
At this meeting I showed Mike some of the artworks I had found which are currently for sale, dating from the late 1930s right up to the 2000s. We discussed which of these would be good to pursue for purchase; how they could enhance the collection and how they could be used. Some of the items on the list were a group of 20th Century posters with various football imagery – one of these is a London Transport poster from 1958, and the others are Russian film posters and a Soviet sports propaganda poster.
The latter fall under two of Mike’s specialisms – Art in Russia and the Soviet Union, and the representation of sport and physical culture. As well as filling one of the gaps in our art collection for original prints/advertising ephemera, the artwork is also striking! And so, these posters were the first official purchase for the project, hooray! Here I am opening the packages on their arrival. Look at those designs and colours!
The Art of Football 