'Beggarstaff, J. & W.'

'Beggarstaff, J. & W.' (the ‘Beggarstaff Brothers'). Pseudonym used by the brothers-in-law William Nicholson and James Pryde for their poster designs. ‘They joined forces in 1894, and for the next five years they produced a series of posters which by their bold simplicity and clarity of design revolutionized certain aspects of poster art througout Europe … they presented the image in its starkest form; the background is stripped bare of unnecessary detail and the fullest use is made of the silhouette … Despite the brilliant originality of their work, or perhaps because of it, they received relatively few commissions and several of their designs never reached the hoardings’ ( Dennis Farr, English Art 1870–1940, 1978). Nicholson explained their choice of the name ‘Beggarstaff’ thus: ‘Pryde and I came across it one day in an old stable, on a sack of fodder. It is a good, hearty, old English name, and it appealed to us, so we adopted it immediately.’ They signed their work ‘J. & W. Beggarstaff'; in due course some people started referring to the ‘Beggarstaff Brothers', but the artists themselves did not care for this version.