A NEW exhibition exploring 200 years of British poster design has opened at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath, bringing together a wide-ranging selection of 19th and 20th-century advertising posters.

Opening on January 23, the exhibition ‘Poster Power!’ brings together a selection of 19th- and 20th-century advertising posters, many drawn from the collections of the Victoria Art Gallery and Bath Record Office.

The exhibition examines how posters have been used to promote entertainment, theatre, travel and transport, political campaigns and First World War recruitment, and considers how poster design has developed alongside wider social change over the past two centuries.

Many of the posters on display have connections to Bath and the surrounding area, including designs advertising Theatre Royal productions, the Bath & West Show, community events on Walcot Street and Bath Festivals across several decades.

The exhibition includes two Theatre Royal posters for Richard III — an 1805 text-only playbill and a 1989 design featuring actor Derek Jacobi — which illustrate changes in poster design over almost 200 years.

Highlights include a selection of posters by Bath based designers Clifford and Rosemary Ellis, celebrated for their influential work for London Transport and Shell during the 1930s. Working as creative partners, the Ellises developed a distinctive visual language marked by bold colour, strong graphic forms and a deep affection for the British countryside and its wildlife.

The exhibition also features a stunning selection of vintage railway posters, designed to entice visitors to Bath with elegant images of its Georgian architecture and The Roman Baths — celebrating the golden age of rail travel and the power of graphic design to shape tourism.

Poster Power! includes activities aimed at younger visitors, with a model train linked to the railway posters and a farm-themed activity area alongside Bath & West Show material.