Emilio Tafani was born in Italy in 1885. He trained under Guglielmo Micheli in Livorno and later at the Brera Academy in Milan. After moving to London in the 1910s, he created acclaimed posters for the Underground and exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy of Arts. During the Second World War, he depicted civilian life with emotional depth.
Painter Emilio Tafani was born in Italy in 1885. He began his formal education in Tuscany, studying under the prominent painter Guglielmo Micheli in Livorno, an artist notably associated with Amedeo Modigliani. At 18, in 1903, Tafani was accepted into the prestigious Brera Academy in Milan, further refining his classical art skills and absorbing contemporary trends in Italian art.
In the early 1910s, Tafani relocated to London. Capitalising on his talents in painting and chromolithography, he established his own lithographic workshop, ELT Studios, bearing his initials. There, he began producing posters for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London. From 1915–20, he designed a series of visually striking posters that combined fine-art aesthetics with commercial purpose. His 1915 design, Wild Honeysuckle – Harrow Weald by Tram and Bus (London Transport Museum collection), exemplifies his approach, depicting idyllic countryside scenes meant to attract city dwellers to London’s outskirts. His use of botanical motifs and vibrant colours distinguished his work from the more informational posters typical of the period, earning him considerable attention. A particularly poignant contribution came in 1918, when he collaborated with fellow artist Fred Taylor on the ‘London Memories’ poster series. Created during the First World War, these designs—featuring scenes such as Wimbledon Common and Denham—were intended to lift the morale of soldiers stationed abroad by evoking nostalgic images of home. Tafani’s ability to convey peaceful, emotionally resonant imagery amidst wartime underlined both his technical skill and sensitivity as a visual storyteller. Following the war, Tafani continued to produce evocative promotional posters. Works like Eastcote (1920) and Kew Gardens – Black Swans and Daffodils (1920), beautifully printed by Chorley & Pickersgill, further solidified his reputation as an integral figure in the golden age of British travel and transport advertising. In 1924 his poster Waterloo Bridge was also included in the exhibition British Advertising Art at the Palace of Arts, British Empire Exhibition at Wembley.
In the postwar years, Tafani became active in the South-East London Art Group, a newly formed collective of professional and amateur artists dedicated to promoting contemporary art in the locale. He was among the exhibitors in the group’s inaugural show at the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, which opened in June 1948 and which included artists such as Francis Dodd, Paul Drury, and S. R. Badmin. Two years later, he returned to the same venue for the group’s third annual exhibition, where his drawings of Bruges and a study of arches were praised for their ‘perfect artistry’ (Norwood News 1950, p. 7). Parallel to his commercial success, Tafani actively pursued fine art painting, exhibiting across Italy and England. His fine art practice was notably versatile, ranging from sensitively rendered portraits to evocative cityscapes. One exemplary painting Lady in Yellow (c. 1940, private collection), demonstrates his skillful blending of classical realism with a modern, expressive use of colour and light. By 1939, the year he became a naturalised British citizen, Tafani was residing at 70 Westwood Hill, Sydenham.
During the Second World War, he remained in Lewisham and actively contributed to the civilian war effort. He served in the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) as a senior fire guard, coordinating firefighting and civilian safety measures amidst the devastation of the London Blitz. His wartime experiences deeply informed his art, inspiring him to document the resilience and daily lives of civilians during the conflict. Tafani’s paintings from this period poignantly capture London under siege. For instance, View of Sydenham (c.1940, Lewisham Heritage collection), painted from the rooftop of Sydenham High School, presents an unexpectedly tranquil image of suburban rooftops beneath a cloudy sky, juxtaposing everyday peacefulness against the backdrop of wartime anxiety. Similarly, his work A Quiet Night – Air Raid Wardens Playing Chess depicts a moment of calm camaraderie among his fellow ARP wardens, portraying the personal side of those serving on the home front. The painting, which shows three wardens at leisure, was completed during the flying-bomb blitz and exhibited in 1944 at a Civil Defence art exhibition held at the Collers Furniture Salon in Catford. In 1944, art critic ETG praised Tafani’s work in the Lewisham Borough News, describing his Royal Academy exhibit The Mystery of the Craft as ‘one of the most perfect examples of skilfully painted detail in the exhibition’. The painting, showing a clockmaker instructing pupils, was noted for its ‘almost photographic perfection’ and the expressive realism of the figures (ETG. 1944, p. 4). Tafani exhibited at the Royal Academy six times between 1943 and 1959, and also showed work with the South-East London Art Group and the Woking Society of Arts. Many of Tafani's wartime paintings were later donated to the Lewisham Heritage archives, underscoring their historical significance. In 1945, his painting Demonstration in Dissection was acquired by the Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool.
EmilioTafani died in London, England in 1963. In the UK public domain his work is represented in the collections of the British Council, London Transport Museum, and Grundy Art Gallery, among others.
Irene Iacono
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Emilio Tafani ]
Publications related to [Emilio Tafani ] in the Ben Uri Library