A rare 1930s railway poster by a Kings Langley artist was set to fetch more than one thousand pounds at an auction in America on Thursday night . The poster is emblazoned with the words ‘London The Opening of Parliament’ and it is the work of the late Christopher Clark, who lived and worked at Studio House, Kings Langley. The poster was issued by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1931 and it is particularly rare because of the words on the poster. LMS posters featuring this image by Mr Clark usually feature the words ‘London For State Occasions.’ But for some unexplained reason,the poster auctioned at Swann Galleries in New York last night (Thursday) features the words ‘London The Opening of Parliament.’ This year marks the 140th anniversary of Christopher Clark’s birth in Bethnal Green,London,on March 1,1875. He was the son of Bethnal Green butcher,Charles Clark. Christopher Clark was a self taught artist,who provided illustrations for books and magazines and whose railway posters usually depict the pageantry of Britain.He exhibited some of his paintings at the Royal Academy in London. Dr Richard Furness, a leading authority on railway posters and author of seven books on the subject, said: “In my opinion, Christopher Clark is the master of ceremonial posters. His 1932 trooping the colour is my all time favourite railway poster because of what it represents and how Clark portrayed the ceremony. He was a great artist.” Mr Clark died on February 9, 1942, just three weeks before what would have been his 67th birthday.In his Who’s Who entry, he listed his Kings Langley address and his telephone number - Kings Langley 7170 - when Kings Langley numbers were just four digits. In his will, he left £1,843 ten shillings and a penny - worth roughly £82,979 today. That might not sound a lot now, but in the 1940s it would have been enough to buy a decent house in Kings Langley. In the early and middle parts of the 20th Century, when comparatively few people owned cars and when overseas holidays were beyond the financial reach of many people, railway companies commissioned artists such`as Christopher Clark to design colourful, eye-catching posters of holiday resorts, beauty spots and places of historical interest, in a bid to boost rail travel throughout Britain. These posters,which used to adorn and brighten railway station platforms and waiting rooms during the steam era, have become increasingly sought-after and valuable mementoes of a gentler, more innocent age. Two of Christopher Clark’s railway posters – London by LMS Trooping The Colour and London For State Occasions – sold for a total of £1,563 at Christie’s South Kensington in London on May 12, 2011.