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Eileen Mayo (Brit./Aust./NZ, 1906-1994).

Australia [Kangaroo With Joey]

c1953. Colour process lithograph, signed in image upper left, 100.4 x 63.5cm. Repaired minor tears and creases. Linen-backed, framed.

Text continues “Particulars at government, shipping, airline & travel offices. Australian National Travel Assoc., Railway Building, Flinders Street, Melbourne. 153 Kearny Street, San Francisco 8, Cal., USA.”

Held in the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences with the following comment by Anne-Marie Van de Ven: “Eileen Mayo was one of the many designers commissioned by the Australian National Travel Association (ANTA) to produce designs for Australian travel posters. Established in 1929, ANTA aspired to attract overseas visitors to Australia by displaying artist-designed posters in its London, San Francisco (opened 1930) and Bombay offices (opened 1937 and directed at the British serving in India). The Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) took over many of ANTA’s functions in 1967.”

“This poster illustrates the designer’s and client’s interest in referencing Australia’s unique fauna and landscapes as a dramatic and appealing aspect of Australian culture and identity. Although Mayo’s poster is inaccurate in that it depicts the ‘red centre’ with grass trees (a species not found in red sandy desert environments), its heroic depiction of a kangaroo with joey in its pouch, the subtle tonal qualities of the sky, and the evocative graphic elements and composition would have made both a strikingly eye-catching and a commercially appealing Australian National Travel Association poster at the time. This type of bold graphic image of Australian identity was particularly popular during the 1950s, especially in the years leading up to the Melbourne Olympic Games of 1956.”

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Item #CL200-47

Price (AUD): $5,500.00  other currencies