Femme Bien Informee

London Transport published this poster in 1972. It was designed by Harry Stevens to promote the City's museums and art galleries. The 'femme bien informée' is admiring a selection of famous paintings from the National Gallery Collection: The Arnolfini Portrait, (1434) by Jan van Eyck; The Fighting Temeraire, (1939) by J M W Turner; Venice: The Basin of San Marco on Ascension Day, (about 1740) by Canaletto; and Le Chapeau de Paille, (1622–5) by Peter Paul Rubens. The woman looks as though she has just stepped out of a painting by Pablo Picasso. At the bottom of the poster is an exhibition label. It reads – 'A Tribute to a Master… Femme Bien Informée, by Harry Stevens, London Transport Art Collection'. As well as commemorating the art of Picasso, Stevens also pays tribute to the London Transport poster, by labelling it as part of an 'art' collection.