The "Beggarstaffs" (James Pryde [1866-1941] and William Nicholson [1872-1949]) -- their name was chosen apparently at random and happened to be the name of a local grain company -- were actually brothers-in-law.
Both studied art as young men, and both even traveled to France for further study before becoming friends. Nicholson married Pryde's sister, Mabel, in 1893, and the two men joined forces to form a working relationship. They had struggled as commercial artists, but, as a way of making money, they turned to the field of poster art, which was rapidly becoming very popular at the time. Actually, the two worked together for only a few years and dissolved their partnership by 1900 to go their separate ways.
They were also active illustrators of books, painted signboards for taverns and also produced oil paintings. Nicholson was perhaps the more noted craftsman of the two, while Pryde was most often the originator of the idea behind the poster. Both were highly regarded by their peers, but they eventually fell out of favor with advertisers, who came to prefer a different style to their rather simplified approach in design.
As their poster art was very simplistic in execution, their inclusion here is primarily because of their historical importance, although their designs were skillfully drawn.
They chose a basic design in their work, most often distinguished by a silhouette, because they felt the man on the street, who might well be in a hurry, would perhaps not notice very much if a poster had too many details. Someone would be more likely to remember a general outline, however, that could be associated with a particular product or even a theater opening -- theater posters were becoming popular in England at this time. The two men also worked deliberately and produced fewer than 20 posters during their association. Eventually, advertisers sought a more direct message instead of their simplistic designs. Two examples will suffice:
In their 1895 poster for Harper's magazine, against a red background, they chose to portray a Beefeater in profile at left holding a lance. His figure is outlined with only the barest of detail by thick, black strokes in such a way that the observer mentally pictures the man's form. At right in a vertical box the height of the poster is text declaring that "Harper's is the largest and most popular magazine ..."
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