Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Australia, the Blue Mountains, New South Wales

Australia, the Blue Mountains, New South Wales

Poster No. 11 produced by Northfield Studios and JE Hackett, Melbourne, Australia
for Australian National Travel Association, Melbourne ©James Northfield Heritage Art Trust
POSTERS/AUSTRALIA/25
Lithographic poster

Fine artist and commercial artist James Northfield (1887-1973) was one of Australia’s most celebrated poster artists. His prolific and innovative designs are built around excellent composition offset by an atmospheric light that beautifully captures the contrasts in the Australian landscape.

‘Australia, the Blue Mountains, New South Wales’ was commissioned by the Australian National Travel Association, and used in a 1930s Blue Mountains tourism advertising campaign.

This poster beautifully captures the dense bushland falling into the shadows of the sheer cliff faces that line the deep valleys at twilight. The contrast of soft and bright colours that reflect the light in the mountains at this time of day is subtly recorded.

These illustrations of New South Wales’ wild and wonderful landscapes were successfully used to lure tourists from Great Britain, United States, New Zealand and interstate up until 1950s.

The birth of the modern poster

Born in 1836, Jules Chéret is widely regarded as the ‘father’ of the modern poster. Chéret began studying lithography at the age of thirteen, and at sixteen he was taking classes at l’Ecole Nationale de Dessin [National School of Art] in Paris. He made his first black-and-white posters in 1855, and from 1859 to 1866 studied colour lithography in London. 
Lithography had fallen into disrepute among artists of the mid 19thcentury; however in the 1890s Chéret revived the art form which began a spectacular renaissance known as the ‘colour revolution’. Without lithography, or Chéret, posters as we know them today simply would not exist.*
*National Gallery of Australia

The weekend getaway

Since the early 20th century, the Blue Mountains have always been a popular spot for a family weekend get-a-away. 
From the 1900s to late 1920’s, people visiting from Sydney would commonly catch the train to Katoomba and stop to spend time exploring the Blue Mountains. 
From the late 1930s the motor bus became a popular means of bringing large numbers of families to the area to see the sights. 
Tourist development was essentially suspended during World War II, however by the 1950s the family car meant that families tended to travel greater distances than the Blue Mountains for their recreation.