Tourism poster, 'Discover... Australia'
Object No. 90/1100
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 and San Francisco offices (opened 1930) and Bombay offices (opened 1937, 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 interest in referencing the art and culture of the Aboriginal Australia as a unique and appealing aspect of Australian culture and identity. Images drawn from Indigenous Australian art and design became very popular in local marketing and merchandising imagery during the 20th century. They were particularly popular during the 1950s, in the period leading up to the Melbourne Olympic Games of 1956. Today it is recognised as unacceptable for non-Indigenous artists to appropriate Aboriginal art and design in this way, but at the time many of the non-Indigenous designers did so in an endeavour to draw attention to Australia's genuinely rich cultural heritage. Anne-Marie Van de Ven, Curator 2009
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Summary
Object Statement
Poster, 'Discover ... Australia', colour photolithograph on paper, designed by Eileen Mayo, Sydney, New South Wales, for the Australian National Travel Association, Flinders Street, Melbourne, Victoria, made by Litho McLarens, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1954-1958
Physical Description
Photolithograph featuring an illustration of an emu and a bearded Indigenous Australian man wearing an [Arrente/ previously Aranda] ceremonial headdress. Emu tracks form a border along the top of the poster and at the bottom of the poster the word 'Australia' uses a design inspired by Indigenous Australian dot-painting. Artist's name, EILEEN MAYO, incorporated into the design on the right hand side of the poster, above the word AUSTRALIA. The poster is printed in brown, yellow, black and white.
DIMENSIONS
Height
1010 mm
Width
634 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
English-born artist, Eileen Mayo (b. 1906, arrived Australia 1953, migrated to New Zealand) was a teacher at the National Art School at East Sydney Technical College, Sydney and a freelance artist. While based in Sydney, she produced murals, posters, magazine illustrations and stamps. During the 1950s, she was commissioned to design posters for the Australian National Travel Association, Australian fauna and mammal stamps for the Post Master General's Department (1957-1960), and four stamps for the first decimal series of 1966 featuring the Barrier Reef. This poster is one of several striking poster designs that she created for ANTA.
HISTORY
Notes
The vendor acquired this poster in Chicago (note: ANTA distributed poster to international shipping and travel officers.) The poster was still rolled up, and appeared never to have been displayed.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Purchased 1990
Acquisition Date
24 December 1990
Copyright for the above image is held by the Powerhouse and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please submit an Image Licensing Enquiry for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative licence.
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