As a major new exhibition opens at Middlesex University, JANAKI MAHADEVAN looks at the role the Tube - and associated art work - played in shaping Barnet

It is hard to believe that the borough of Barnet, today the second largest borough in London, was once green fields and country estates. But the arrival of the London Underground helped transform the area into a thriving London suburb.

As part of a huge publicity drive in the 1920s and Thirties, London Transport, now Transport for London (TfL), launched a poster campaign to persuade people to move into the suburbs and make use of the rapidly expanding Underground network.

An upcoming exhibition at the Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture (MoDA), at Middlesex University, in Cat Hill, East Barnet, looks at some of the iconic images that depict the growing relationship between the suburbs and the heart of the city.

Zoe Hendon, senior curator at MoDA, said: "The posters were used to encourage people to live in and enjoy the quiet and domestic life of the suburbs and travel into London for work and leisure.

"They helped to shape people's perceptions and expectations of London and what it meant to live there in a period of great change.

"As well as persuading people to move out to the suburbs, there was a drive for people to make use of the city in a time when the leisure industry was expanding."

When the Euston and Hampstead Railway opened from Charing Cross to Golders Green and Highgate in 1907, houses in what is today known as Barnet were mainly grand properties surrounded by countryside.

By the time the line was extended to Edgware in 1924, houses were being built all over the borough.

Ms Hendon said: "A great deal was put into publicising the suburban Tube lines because, although we are all familiar with the Tube system now, travelling underground at high speeds was not something people were used to doing.

"The posters conveyed images of modernity and speed which were also themes that influenced artists of the time."

Frank Pick, head of London Transport in the 1930s, was aware of the need to increase passenger traffic on the network and commissioned some of the most notable artists of the period, such as Man Ray and Edward McKnight Kauffer.

It was from these posters that many members of the public encountered modern art for the first time.

The exhibition is run in conjunction with London's Transport Museum, in Covent Garden, which has lent the posters and exhibits.

Oliver Green, head curator at London's Transport Museum, said: "London transport became the main commissioner for modern art work in Britain and it was considered prestigious to be invited to produce work for the posters. It became a sort of unofficial arts council of its time."

Mr Green, who grew up in Finchley, saw MoDA as an ideal venue to house the posters while London's Transport Museum is closed for major refurbishment.

"We work in partnership with lots of different organisations but MoDA in particular has a lot of material about suburban housing and design, and transport has had a major impact on this subject," he said.

"When I lived here I was always conscious of the wonderful art deco buildings that were characteristic of the area.

"The introduction of the Tube lines was a major change for this suburb. When people became aware of the frequency and speed of the tubes things were completely transformed, it was suddenly very easy to get into the centre of the city."

The exhibition also looks at the different themes in the Underground posters that portray London life, including commuting, living and playing in the city and the suburb, and what women did with their day.

Ms Hendon said: "Despite the fact that many women worked in the 1920s and Thirties, the posters depicted a domestic ideal with pictures of women playing with their children in the park and preparing meals for their husband's return.

"More and more people were becoming middle class and part of this ideal was that the husband would go to work and the wife would stay at home, even though this was not the case for many families." The exhibition, Come Out To Live Come In To Play, will run up to the centenary of the Tube's extension to Golders Green next year. It is on display from November 7 until to June 3 next year, and is open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10am to 5pm. Entrance is free.

For more information visit www.moda.mdx.ac.uk