James Northfield and the Art of Selling Australia

Glorious beaches, noble gum trees, distant purple mountains and endless blue skies—these powerful images, used to identify and promote Australia internationally and at home, were largely created by commercial artists like James Northfield. Northfield’s early career coincided with the boom in commercial advertising in Australia, and his skills were called on to promote a diverse range of products, from holidays in Australia to Kiwi boot polish. Richly illustrated with examples of posters and promotions from the golden age of advertising, this book celebrates Australia’s commercial art heritage through an examination of the work of one of our best commercial artists.