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Australia Great Barrier Coral Reef

Maker James Northfield (Australian, 1887 - 1973)

Publisher Australian National Travel Association

Datec 1932

Object number00037397

NamePoster

MediumColour lithograph on paper

DimensionsFramed: 1275 x 930 x 40 mm. G fini glazed.

ClassificationsPosters and postcards

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionJames Northfield was commissioned by the Australian National Travel Association to create posters presenting Australia as an exciting and accessible tourist destination for the international traveller. ANTAs travel posters featured scenes of metropolitan, rural and regional Australia. Here Northfield uses game fishing and the natural beauty of the Great Barrier Reef to entice tourists to coastal Queensland.HistoryMetropolitan, rural and regional destinations were central themes of posters commissioned by the Australian National Travel Association. In 1929 the Australian National Tourism Authority, based in Melbourne, commissioned journalists and graphic artists who had worked for the Victorian National Railways Betterment Board to produce posters for every Australian state. Emphasis was placed on tourist sites and regions such as the Great Barrier Reef and the tropics of North Queensland. The winter migration of tourists from Victoria and New South Wales to the warmer climate of Queensland proved a lucrative market, and these posters were aimed at this demographic.SignificanceThe poster documents how Australia was marketed to both national and international travellers in the early 1930s. It is representative of early 20th century design trends and the role of Modernist aesthetics in popular culture.