| Description | Artwork, sketches, scrapbooks, documents, textiles, photographs and printed material following the career of Ashley Havinden, advertising artist; including papers concerning the business of the advertising firm of W.S.Crawford, London.
The contents are sorted into twelve sections:
/1. List of Ashley/ Crawfords correspondence files (248 files)
/2. Portfolios (239 items)
/3. Artworks (481 items)
/4. Posters, publications and printed ephemera (396 items)
/5. Photographs (57 items)
/6. Posters and printed material by other artists (233 items)
/7. Publications and cuttings collected by Ashley Havinden (76 items)
/8. Slides and negatives (193 items)
/9. Sketchbooks and scrapbooks (16 items)
/10. Textiles (26 items)
/11. Indexes to Ashley's work (9 items)
/Loans from the estate of the artist (23 items) |
| Admin_History | Under the professional name 'Ashley', Ashley Havinden was one of the most renowned British advertising artists of the twentieth century. He became a Director of the ground-breaking advertising agency W. S. Crawford Ltd at the age of 26 and was one of the very first graphic artists to bring Bauhaus-inspired asymmetrical typography into Britain. He established Crawford's as leader in the 'set it crooked' school of advertising in the mid-1920s and devised a form of lettering that became known as the 'Ashley script' - a typeface that is still in use today. The success of his designs, incorporating the idea of speed and performance for Chrysler Cars (1925), resulted in Crawford's expanding their business into Belgium, France and Germany. Ashley continued to produce innovative designs for Crawford's clients until the late 1950s. Amongst his other highly influential campaigns were those for Eno's Fruit Salt, Simpson's of Piccadilly, Martini, Liberty's and Gillette. Ashley also produced designs for rugs and textiles, the most celebrated of which were a prominent feature of the Simpson's of Piccadilly store, for whom he designed advertisements from its foundation in 1935 until his retirement, and for Edinburgh Weavers. Ashley was an established painter. In London in August 1937 three exhibitions, respectively of his poster and publicity work, of recent paintings, and of his rug and fabric designs, showed the breadth of his talents. Living in Hampstead in the 1930s, Ashley was part of the international group of artists, which included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Piet Mondrian, László Moholy-Nagy and Naum Gabo, who placed Britain firmly at the centre of the avant-garde movement. Over the years, Ashley built up a fine collection of works by his friends, who later included Victor Pasmore and William Scott, and which he displayed to great effect in his three homes: Alvanley Gardens, Hampstead, Highpoint II, Highgate, and Roxford, Hertfordshire.
He was president of the Society of Industrial Artists from 1953, and master of the Royal Designers of Industry, having been elected in 1947. He died in 1973. |