This poster, dated about 1949, is an excellent example of early screenprinting. Screenprinting is a form of stencilling (printing by means of masking out the areas of the surface receiving the design that are to remain blank) in which the stencil is fixed to a fine mesh of silk, man-made fibre or steel, known as the 'screen'. The screen is stretched over an open frame. Ink is pushed across its surface by a flexible blade called a 'squeegee' and forced through the holes where the printing surface is not masked, on the paper or fabric below. A separate screen is required for each colour of the finished print.

Screenprinting was used from about 1890 in America and England to make signage but later extended to other commercial purposes such as fabric printing and advertising after the 1914-18 war. Artists began using the process during the 1930s in America, under the Works Progress Administration's Federal Arts Project, but the technique is most often associated with the Pop Art movement of the 1960s.

The Whitechapel Art Gallery was founded in 1901 and aimed to 'bring great art to the East End of London'. Its first exhibition featured artists such as the Pre-Raphaelites, Constable, Hogarth and Rubens and attracted more than 200,000 local people. It sought to mount a diverse programme of exhibitions including art from Africa and Latin America, individual shows of major contemporary artists like Picasso, Rothko and Jackson Pollock, and shows of work by local artists.