With values ever increasing in this field, it is perhaps surprising that no Australian auctioneer seems to have made a move into this strongly emerging genre, especially with such striking modernist images like Walter Jardine’s Travel / Air. Land. Sea / Book through Burns, Philp and Co Ltd, circa 1930 (Lot 42 ), estimated at US$4,000-US$6,000.
Travel posters appeal not only because of their strong colours and graphics, but also because of their size at usually 100 x 62 cm or so, well suited to the move to contemporary city apartment living, and away from traditional paintings, which is occurring in Australia.
Likewise, Frank Wooton’s And Now Rolls Royce – Speed and Comfort in the Air / Trans-Australia Airlines, circa 1954 (Lot 43 ) is a gorgeous image bringing the luxury of travel and Australia together, estimated at US$2,000-US$3,000.
A more perfect summation of modernism is difficult to imagine than Arthur Michael’s India, Australia and Intermediate Ports, circa 1935 (Lot 50 ), with estimates of US$1,500-US$2,000.
Another gem by P&O is lot 62 To Australia for £37, by Raphael Roussel, circa 1930, estimated at US$2,500-US$3,500.
Percy Trompf’s image of the almost completed Sydney Harbour Bridge from 1930 (Lot 65 ) is as powerful as any Grace Cossington-Smith image, though estimated at a meagre US$5,000-US$7,000.
There are a number of posters by well known exponents of the art form: Gert Sellheim is extremely well represented in the sale with nine examples, and the most interesting would be the minimalist lots 92 to 95, which should receive some very competitive bidding.
Swann Galleries achieved an auction record in November 2011 for an example of Gert Sellheim’s Surf Club 1936, which sold for US$20,000 hammer price on estimates of US$3,000-US$4,000. This time, Surf Club (Lot 93 ) is estimated at US$5,000-US$7,500.
A very appealing image is lot 101, F.G. Longstaff’s Delightful Views from the Carriage Windows, New South Wales Railways, with estimates of US$1,000-US$1,500.
One of the stand-outs is lot 84, designed by William Dobell for the Orient Line, Orient Line to Australia / 20,000 Ton Ships, circa 1938, estimated at US$3,000-US$4,000. Other artists and poster designers include Will Ashton, Eileen Mayo, James Northfield, Frank McNamara and Charles Meere.
The combined estimate for the Australian travel posters alone in the sale is US$120,000 to US$180,000.
According to Nicholas Lowry, this is an opportunity to see fantastic previously unseen images by important artists. A number of these posters can be found in the archives of the National Museum of Australia, but not all of them. This means that collectors of Australian posters have the opportunity to acquire images so rare that even the most important institutions in Australia don't have a copy.
