Australia was burning. The horror of the bushfires must have made the posters prime examples of misleading advertising.
As posters are collected for their decorative qualities and their rarity "truth in advertising" would not even have entered the heads of prospective buyers of the unsourced 25 lots, all of which appeared to sell, although it could have affected newcomers.
The market at Christie's South Kensington sale of Vintage Posters on October 30 was just a little more hesitant than before 2009 when the latest financial crisis set in.
But at Swann Auction Galleries sale of Rare and Important Travel Posters on October 18 it was virtually business as usual.
Old clients of Qantas might be sceptical about its dumping the kangaroo route but posters by the designer of the flying kangaroo and of Qantas posters kept the market in mid-flight.
Two early posters for Qantas at Christie's made £2750 which was comfortably within expectations.
This was despite a far more serious consideration - the loss to the market of one of the top buyers, the Australian film distributor Michael Callaghan who died in 2012.
He is of course no longer a buyer and his collection overhangs the market. Dispersal of his massive poster collection is being handled by Sydney print dealer Mr Josef Lebovic.
The biggest disappointment at Christie's was Australia, Great Barrier Reef printed in 1935 and designed by James Northfield (1887-1973), It sold for £1875 including premium against the estimate of £2000 to £3000 excluding premium.
News is out that a lot of coal sludge is about to be deposited there but this should help the market rather than depress it.
Gert Selheim's view of the same attraction, Australia, Great Barrier Reef, appeared to more than make up for this in selling at £4000 against an estimate of £1500 to £2000.
The estimate admittedly was very conservative and more likely to have done even better in the US where this Australian's poster art seems to have a stronger following.
Estonian born Selheim (1901-1970) studied art and architecture in Germany before migrating to Australia in 1936, brought a sense of the European avant garde to Australian poster design and designed Australia's flying kangaroo.
At Swann's, a poster designed to make New Yorkers visiting Australia feel at home, Selheim's Sunshine and Surf estimated at $US4000 to $US6000 showed the power of the American interest by selling for $US11,250.
Australian flora and fauna continued the winning streak it has had overseas since it appeared on the first stamps (and even earlier with Lycett's Views). In the same sale it was Eileen Mayo's depiction of a kangaroo, done late, in 1957 that captured attention when in the same sale Australia made $US3584 against $2000 to $3000.
Percy Trompf's cocktail interior, Peopled Cities and a European Environment with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background sold for $US10,625 against $US5000 to $7000.
It seems indoor elegance is now joining the great outdoors in delighting buyers . The poster is a refined and elegant image of couples dancing on an outdoor terrace in Miller's Point beneath the stars and the twinkling lights of the newly built Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Swann says it has been unable to locate another copy off this poster either at auction or in any institutional collection
New Zealand's refined elegance also was noted when a poster by an unknown designer, New Zealand's Christchurch Playground of the Pacific made $1625 against $800 to $1200.
Botany Bay by Percival Albert (Percy) Trompf (1902-1964) was the only other notable disappointment when at Christie's it made £375 against £600 to £800 estimate. This was the half sized version of the poster but still a disappointment.
Also at Christie's Sydney Bridge Celebrations sold for £3,750 against a very conservative estimate of £1000 to £1500.
This shows a surf lifesaver holding a flag against the background of the harbour bridge.
Similar “Nordic imagery” of Charles Meere of the White Australia period has come under a bit of a cloud through its exposure in Charles Meere's Australian Beach Pattern on show in the Royal Academy's current exhibition of Australian art. As in the Trompf, there is no sign of an indigenous person.
This exhibition, like the bush fires, has also shown Australia as a not particularly inviting country, a land of floods and droughts.
