As managing director of the London Underground in the 1920s and the first chief
executive of London Transport, Frank Pick (1878-1941), had more influence on the
look of twentieth century London than any other individual. Frank Pick's London
offers a unique overview of Pick's passionate belief in the social and civic va
lue of applied art and design and its impact on London. Frank Pick's London expl
ores an extraordinary contribution to the everyday experience of modern London.
Pick commissioned now familiar publicity posters from the likes of Paul Nash,
Edward Bawden, Graham Sutherland and Edward McKnight Kauffer, iconic upholstery
fabrics by Marion Dorn and architecture by Charles Holden for the extension of
the Piccadilly line. Pick's awareness of urban design is still with us today and
can be traced through to the architecture of the Jubilee Line, the Crossrail pr
oject and Thomas Heatherwick's new bus for London.
