Engeland Per Mij Zeeland poster – Kees van der Laan – 1939
Poster: Engeland Per Mij Zeeland poster – Kees van der Laan – 1939
This is a great reproduction of a 1930s art nouveau shipping and railway poster from the golden era of transport. The heading on this vintage Dutch shipping poster reads: Een Zeereisje Naar Engeland per MIJ Zeeland. This translates into English as “A sea voyage to England from Zeeland”. Zeeland is the westernmost province in the Netherlands, located in the southwest of the country.
Rail transport in the Netherlands is considered to have begun on September 20, 1839, with the opening of a railway line between Rotterdam and The Hague. The first train was drawn along a 16km rail track by the locomotive De Arend.
In 1939, one hundred years later, the Dutch company Nederlandse Spoorwegen became the principal railway operator in the Netherlands.
This coincided with the introduction of a new ocean liner, MS Prinses Beatrix, in the fleet of the Dutch shipping company, Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland. Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland or the Netherlands Steamship Company, also known as the Netherland Line was a Dutch shipping line that operated from 1870 until 1970.
With a nod to centennial celebrations, this vintage shipping poster was created by the Dutch artist Kees van der Laan, promoting the services of both the railway and shipping companies and the collaboration between the two.
The poster’s MS Prinses Beatrix
The poster features the latest streamlined electric multiple unit locomotive alongside the impressive SS Prinses Beatrix. The MS Prinses Beatrix was originally built as a civilian passenger liner in 1939, named after Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands. In 1940 she was requisitioned by the British Ministry of War Transport, renamed HMS Princess Beatrix, and converted to a troopship at Harland and Wolff’s yard in Belfast.
In 1946, after having survived the war, Princess Beatrix was returned to her owners and continued to operate as a ferry from Hook of Holland until 1969, when she was scrapped in Antwerp, Belgium.
Kees van der Laan the poster artist
Kees van der Laan wasborn in Rotterdamin 1903. It is hard to classify the career of the Dutch artist Kees van der Laan. His occupations over the decades included artist, glass painter, monumental artist, wall painter, sculptor, painter, mosaicist, graphic designer, and poster artist.
Laan was self-taught and had gained experience in Paris between 1924 and 1927. This was a period when French Art Deco was flourishing. After his three formative years in the French capital, Laan returned to Rotterdam. In Holland, he began to produce advertising posters. Obviously, heavily influenced by the new Art Deco movement and the work of AM Cassandre in particular, Laan began creating posters for several Dutch companies including the Dutch Railways, the Zeeland Steamship Company, the National Flight Academy, and Ford.
Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears, or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.
The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £15 So you can bag a print and poster for a great price.