The National Theatre Is Yours (detail)
Silkscreen, 1976-1978 (see full view)
Edition of 250, signed and numbered by the artist, only three remaining
Curator's Note: ...a very particular moment in time...
Image size 76cm x 50cm; paper size 91cm x 60cm
£ 750 (approx. US$ 1225, € 835)
VAT, postage and handling included
Curator's Note
In 1976 Tom Phillips was commissioned to design a poster announcing the opening of the National Theatre, an iconic building by the architect Sir Denys Lasdun.
Built on the site of the 1951 Festival of Britain as part of the Southbank Centre the theatre continues to be a focal point of London arts and culture.
The commission incorporates quotations relating to the recently completed first edition of A HUMUMENT, an image of the architect's model of the building (as the building was yet to be finished), and calligraphy reminiscent of the artist's textual paintings. These elements as well as the Union Jack iconography -- which hints at the coming Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 -- place this work at a very particular moment in time.
The poster sold out in the shop at the National Theatre and was reprinted many times. This is not the poster but a now rare silkscreen print on heavy paper, made in 1978 as a numbered limited edition of 250 and signed by the artist.