Brief Career of the Beggarstaffs

In 1894, William Nicholson and James Pryde started an advertising design studio. In order to hide their identity they became the Beggarstaffs after seeing a sack of corn labeled "the Beggarstaffs Brothers". The Beggarstaffs started a brand new technique, called collage (Meggs, Purvis 276). This new technique did not follow the traditional trend of art noveau of floral patterns, but instead focused on posters with powerful colored shapes and silhouettes. The Beggarstaffs transformed the history of art with a series of bold, simple designs using flat images and silhouettes (Apatoff, "The Beggarstaff Brothers"). They chose basic designs, because they believed ..."a man on the street, who may be in a hurry, would not take in too many details..." (Raimes, Bhaskaran 32). This explains why these artists designs were made of simple shapes and a general outline that would have an association with a product. 


Above: J. W Beggarstaffs. 1898 Hamlet. Web. 18 February 2014. 
http://www.yaneff.com/html/artists/beggarstaff.html

Before the two artists started their company they collaborated on a poster for Edward Gordon Craig (Innes, Christopher). Craig was preparing to go on tour with the Shakespearean company of W.S. Hardy, to play to role as Hamlet (see above). Pryde and Nicholson designed and produced a poster for the production, making it their first collaboration. 


Above: J.W Beggarstaffs. 1900. Kassama. Web. 18 February 2014. 
http://www.yaneff.com/html/artists/beggarstaff.html

The Beggarstaffs are well known for their collage technique, where they cut pieces of paper,and moved them around on a board in order create an image for the viewer to decipher. One of the most famous example of this is the poster for Kassama Corn Flour (as seen above) where only black and yellow colors are used ("The Beggarstaffs..."). 


Above: J.W Beggarstaffs. 1898. Don Quixote. Web. 18 February 2014. 
http://www.yaneff.com/html/artists/beggarstaff.html

One of the Beggarstaffs most famous artwork was also the start of their financial problems. Their famous poster, Don Quixote (as seen above), made for Sir Henry Irving's production at eh Lyceum Theatre, was never printed, because the client decided, "it had a bad likeness." ("The Beggarstaffs...")

Unfortunately after only a couple years and only twenty posters made, the Beggarstaffs were forced to close due to the inability to find clients. Even though at the time they were unsuccessful, they are considered innovators in the genesis of modern graphic design (Raimes, Bhaskaran 32). Their designs would become influential to artists in Europe and America when the Early Modern era begins (Megg, Purvis 276). 

Even though their collaboration did not create initial success, after separating both continued their careers in the arts. Nicholson returned to his interest in theatre, where he made designs for various plays, but his famous one was in 1904 for the original production of Peter Pan. William Nicholson was also well known for his illustrations in children's books, including Margery William's 'The Velveteen Rabbit' ("Nicholson, Sir William). After the Beggarstaffs company fell through James Pryde supplemented his income by taking various small parts on stage. As an artist however he is known for his distinct dramatic and sinister styles. One of his more famous pieces of work is in 1930 he designed the sets for Paul Robeson's memorable Othello at the Savoy Theatre in London ("Pryde, James"). 

Reference:
Apatoff, David. "The Beggarstaff Brothers" Illustration Art. 2011. Web. 18 February 2014.
http://illustrationart.blogspot.com/2011/02/beggarstaff-brothers.html

Meggs, Philip and Alston Purvis. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. 2012. Print.

Innes, Christopher. Edward Gordon Craig: A Vision Of Theatre, Routledge Harwood Contemporary Theatre Studies, Volume 28 (2nd. edition). Amsterdam: Harwood Academic.1998. Print. 

Raimes, Jonathan and Bhaskaran, Lakshmi. Retro Graphics. San Francisco: Chronicle Books LLC. 2007. Print. 

"The Beggarstaffs-Sir William Nicholson" Yaneff International Gallery. 2011. Web. 18 February 2014.
http://www.yaneff.com/html/artists/beggarstaff.html

"The Beggarstaffs (aka Sir Willaim Nicholson & James Pryde), British. RO Gallery. 2013. Web. 18 February 2014.http://rogallery.com/Beggarstaffs/beggarstaffs-biography.html

"Pryde, James" The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. Ed Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press 2009 Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.

"Nicholson, Sir William" The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. Ed Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press 2009 Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press