JAMES NORTHFIELD (1887-1973) AUSTRALIA / FOR SUNSHINE & ROMANCE. Circa 1936. 19 3/4x24 1/2 inches, 50 1/4x62 1/4 cm. J.E. Hackett, Melbourne. Condition B+: repaired tears and minor losses at edges; creases and abrasions in image. Combining the romance of the Gold Rush days with bright good weather, this poster depicts an almost ghost-like stagecoach speeding across an exotic Australian landscape. Northfield was a prolific poster artist who did work for the Victorian Government Railways and the Australian National Travel Association, as well as smaller, local advertisers. "He served his apprenticeship with F.W. Niven, the Melbourne printing firm, as a lithographic artist . . . [and then] set up his own studio in Melbourne in the early 1930s." Northfield p. 48, Monash p. 28 and cover.
