POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

'The Home' magazine with cover design by Hera Roberts

Object No. 93/349/19

This July 1933 edition of 'The Home' magazine illustrates a woman elegantly dressed for skiing on the slopes, designed by graphic artist and Sydney socialite, Hera Roberts. Roberts contributed over fifty covers to the magazine, which was targeted at upper middle-class Australian housewives. Her work can be identified for incorporating notable characteristics of modern design, including vivid colours, geometric shapes, sharp angles and streamlined forms. Like much of Roberts' work, this cover places particular emphasis on the female subject as being both poised and intelligent. Similar imagery abounded in 1930s magazines, expressing a revolution in which many women relinquished the androgynous look of the 1920s to become increasingly active and independent. Sydney Ure Smith launched 'The Home' magazine in February 1920 as a monthly publication. Its articles and artwork reflected the dawn of modernism in Australia with a focus on holiday destinations, home decorating, fashion, cosmetics, cultural events and other amusements of the independent and modern woman. Its excellence in content and printing propelled it into the league of international magazines, such as 'Harper's Bazaar', 'Vogue' and 'Vanity Fair', and distinguished it from all other Australian publications. Adrian Feint designed the P&O shipping advertisement that appears on the back of this edition. Sleek and vibrant, his artwork demonstrates the sophisticated consumer imagery that arose in conjunction with modernism.

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Summary

Object Statement

Magazine, 'The Home', Vol 14 No.7 July 1, paper, edited by Sydney Ure Smith and Leon Gellert, cover design by Hera Roberts, published by Art in Australia Ltd, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1933

Physical Description

Magazine, 'The Home', Vol 14 No.7 July 1, paper, edited by Sydney Ure Smith and Leon Gellert, cover design by Hera Roberts, published by Art in Australia Ltd, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1933 Cover has colour illustration of woman carrying skis. Marked "Special Garden Photographs".

DIMENSIONS

Height

315 mm

Width

252 mm

Depth

7 mm

PRODUCTION

Notes

Design/illustration by Hera Roberts. Hera Christian Roberts (b. Dubbo 1892 - d. Sydney 1969) Painter, designer, illustrator, milliner. Student and cousin of Thea Proctor. Companion of Sydney Ure Smith. Designed many covers for Home magazine published by Ure Smith. Co-owner of a millinery shop in Pitt Street, Sydney, called 'June'. Designed a complete room, including furniture, for the Burdekin House exhibition of 1929.

SOURCE

Credit Line

Purchased 1993

Acquisition Date

11 October 1993

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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