Herry Perry

Heather "Herry" Perry (16 October 1897 – 6 September 1962) was a graphic artist, illustrator, and printmaker best known for her prolific design work for Transport for London and London Underground throughout the 1920s and 1930s.

Biography Herry Perry did not use her birth name, opting to use a shortened version of the first name "Heather" which came from her middle name, Erica, the Latin name of the heather plant. Her nickname likely followed naturally given the simplicity and rhyme of the name "Herry Perry," especially compared to the lengthy name she was given at birth. The girls' father, Major Ottley Lane Perry, was a prominent cotton merchant and councillor who eventually served as justice of the peace for the County of Middlesex and the Borough of Bolton. Additionally, he is credited with designing Bolton's first official coat of arms in 1890. His design remained the town's official coat of arms for several decades until 1958. The Perry family moved from Bolton to Kensington in 1900, and again to Roxwell in 1911. Throughout their childhoods, both Herry and her sister Rosamund were homeschooled by an educated governess. While studying in London Perry created numerous wood engravings that are still held by the school today, including Mrs. Budgett, Head of a Young Man, and Christmas Card Farm Scene. Her most notable work from this period is a large, 52 x 39 cm (20.5 x 15 in) wood engraving print of a cross-section of the Central School of Arts and Crafts building on Southampton Row, carved between 1925 and 1926. She remained on the official register of assistant nurses until 1945 and continued to work in the medical field during the post-war years. Notably, Bill Pearson was a student from New Zealand studying in the United Kingdom, and homosexuality was not decriminalized in either location until 1986 and 1967 respectively.

Perry died in Hampstead on 6 September 1962, at the age of 64, leaving her younger sister as her only surviving relative. In 1939, Perry was given the opportunity to design the General Post Office's annual Valentine's Day greetings telegram. Her design was the last Valentine's Day telegram form offered by the General Post Office until 1951 due to the complications and shortages that resulted from WWII.

Perry was an early member of the Society of Wood Engravers, an international organization dedicated to promoting the art of wood engraving by providing artists with public exhibitions to display their woodcut prints. She was a student of one of the group's founders, Noel Rooke. Perry was also heavily involved with the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society.

In 1929, she completed a series of five new maps of the London Underground for the areas of Hounslow, Edgware, South Harrow, Kew, and Morden. crocuses, and bluebells. Some of her posters even discouraged people from picking wildflowers, with the slogan "Leave them for others to see!"

A 1934 campaign for the London Underground featured a series of posters by Perry that depicted the different things Londoners could enjoy, including theatres, restaurants, sightseeing, and socializing. She designed posters that featured the ticket prices and unique train schedules for special events like Wimbledon, Lord Mayor's Show, Crufts Dog Show, and Bertram Mills' Circus. Perry was also responsible for posters that highlighted military events like The Royal Tournament, RAF Displays, and Trooping the Colour.

A poster she designed for Derby Day in 1934 featured her interpretation of Paolo Uccello's The Battle of San Romano. The bottom left corner had a small line of text from Perry that read: "...with apologies to Paolo Uccello" presumably in reference to her lighthearted take on his work. That wasn't the first time she used the map dedication for a little comedy, as she dedicated the map of Kew "To Bucephalus," Alexander the Great's horse. Perry's typical witty illustrations accompanied fellow VAD medic David York's observations. The cover features a black line drawing of the authors facing one another, with the cover's only color radiating from York's bright red hands. Lighter London, Hubert Steel, 1930. Entertaining with Elizabeth Craig, Elizabeth Craig, 1933. Animals Limited, James Cook, 1933. First Aid for First Aiders: Or, "What'll I do?", Herry Perry and David York, 1939.

Between 1933 and 1935, Perry was contracted by Cunard-White Star to paint a series of murals for the second-class children's playroom on the ocean liner . Other artists who were commissioned to work on the RMS Queen Mary at around the same time as Perry included Edward Wadsworth, Dame Laura Knight, Vanessa Bell, Anna Zinkeisen, and Gilbert Bayes.

Perry completed the Queen Mary murals from her studio in Swiss Cottage and subsequently had them sent over to the ship. One of these murals featured her interpretation of Noah's Ark finally finding land, complete with a parade of animals of all varieties exiting the boat. Perry's ark was registered to 'Liverpool' and featured telephone wires, a kangaroo waving Australia's flag, and an impatient beaver pushing a slow penguin out of the way. The ship sat upon a large boulder that served as a chalkboard for the children in the nursery.

When the was repurposed to carry soldiers in World War II, the nursery rooms were converted to offices. Perry's jungle murals remain in the background of several war-time images of men at work on the ship.

Shop signs In her older age in the 1950s, Perry's design clients expanded to include many London-area shop owners and barkeeps. Perry designed dozens of pub signs around London during this time, often using her boarder (Bill Pearson) as a model for the men she painted. Load of Hay, Haverstock Hill. The Queen's Head & Artichoke, Marylebone. She exhibited at least two works at the 1930 show: a fruit farm map that had been commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, and an estate map that was likely based on property owned by philanthropist Sir Julien Cahn as it required his permission to be entered in the exhibition. A lacewood doorstop carved by Herry Perry was included in the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society's 50th Anniversary Exhibition in 1938.

Posthumous shows and publications Perry's art continues to be featured in art exhibitions and publications. Most recently, her posters have been included in shows curated specifically to showcase forgotten women designers and artists. The following is an incomplete list of exhibitions and publications that have featured Perry's work since her death in 1962:

English Poetry of the Second World War by Catherine Reilly, 1986. Underground Art: London Transport Posters 1908 to Present by Oliver Green, 2001. A Century of Creative Women, London Transport Museum, 2015. Poster Girls – A Century of Art and Design, London Transport Museum, 2017. I Don't Know Her Name But I Know Her Work, Central Saint Martins, 2017–18.

Collections The London Transport Museum holds the largest public collection of Perry's work, and regularly offers lectures and educational opportunities that include information about her travel posters. The museum counts nearly one hundred of her works in its collections, including original maps, posters, and book illustrations. Her work can also be found at the Yale Center for British Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the University of the Arts London.

Maps

A New Chart of the Royal Zoological Society's Gardens in Regent's Park, commonly called The Zoo, 1927, Zoological Society of London. Kew (London Underground), 1929, London Transport Museum. Hounslow (London Underground), 1929, London Transport Museum. South Harrow (London Underground), 1929, London Transport Museum. Edgware (London Underground), 1929, London Transport Museum. London: Thou Art The Flower of Cities All (Great Western Railway), 1929, London Transport Museum.

Posters

The Empire Under One Roof at The Imperial Institute, 1927, London Transport Museum. Chestnut Sunday, 1931, London Transport Museum. Orpheus at Whipsnade, 1933, London Transport Museum. The Royal Tournament, 1935, Museum of Modern Art. Boat Race, 6 April, 2:45 pm, 1935, London Transport Museum. Cruft's Dog Show, 1937, Victoria and Albert Museum. Country Joys from Victoria Station, 1930, Yale Center for British Art.

Other art

Central School Print, 1925, University of the Arts London. Lawrence and the Arabs by Robert Graves (maps), 1927, Mannerheim Museum. Safety first, High Street, Ellesmore, c. 1928, University of the Arts London. Japanese Garden at The National Stud, 1930, Victoria and Albert Museum. Valentine's Day greetings telegram'', 1939, The Postal Museum London.