Colour lithograph entitled 'The Grey Horses' by Tom Gentleman in the School Prints series. London, 1946.

Colour lithograph in predominantly pinks and oranges showing a village street with round topped wagon, labelled on the side 'McMullens Ales', and two white horses. In the background is a pale blue sky. Buildings edge the road on either side, some timber framed and behind them can be seen a church tower. Two children stand and watch the horses while the man in the wagon starts to unload a crate of ale. Another man is rolling a barrel towards one of the buildings, which has a sign overhanging the street. A woman watches from an upstairs window. In the street are a number of other people; mothers with prams, children and a policeman on a bicycle. The border is patterned with repeating lines which form s shapes and half moons.

Given by Messrs. School Prints, Ltd

School Prints series was published in the 1940s. The idea behind the series was to commission established artists to create lithographs which could be editioned in very large numbers and sold cheaply to schools, for display in corridors, classrooms and assembly halls. The pupils would enjoy direct contact with new works of art. The entrepreneur, Mrs Brenda Rawnsley, wrote: 'We are producing a series of auto-lithographs, four for each term, for use in schools, as a means of giving school children an understanding of contemporary art.'

In the spirit of post-war optimism, the artists responded enthusiastically, and submitted sketches to the selection committee, chaired by Herbert Read, which included influential R.R. Tomlinson, London County Council Senior Inspector of Art. Many of the prints depict a familiar world of everyday rural or urban life, some presenting a version of the pastoral idyll (John Nash 'Harvesting') and others scenes of festivity (Barbara Jones 'Fairground'), entertainment (L.S. Lowry 'Punch and Judy') or leisure (John Tunnard's surrealist 'Holiday'). Each lithograph had a drawn frame around the image so that the print could be pinned to the wall.

Set up in 1945 by Brenda Rawnsley, the School Prints scheme commissioned well-known artists to create lithographs, which would then be printed in large numbers and sold cheaply to schools for display in classrooms; the aim was to give 'school children an understanding of contemporary art'. Each lithograph had a drawn frame so that the print could be pinned to the wall. In the spirit of post-war optimism, artists responded enthusiastically. The scheme was a unique attempt at giving children access to original works of art in a period of austerity but ended in 1949 because of financial problems.

Many of the prints depict a familiar world of everyday rural or urban life, some presenting a version of the pastoral idyll and others scenes of entertainment or leisure.

E.1903-1946