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The Artists

James Northfield (1888-1973)

James Northfield is one of Australia's most famous poster artists, being both prolific and innovative in his designs. In particular, his understanding of colour techniques (at a time when colour-printing practices were still experimental) contributed significantly to the development of brightly coloured posters.

Northfield was born in Geelong and after training at the Geelong Technical School he served an apprenticeship with the Melbourne printing firm of F.W. Niven as a lithographic artist. In the early 1930s he set up his own studio in Melbourne.

Examples of Northfield's work were included in many of the Australian displays of international travel posters. In the 1950s, he won the prize for a cover design for the prospectus of the Art Training Institute-of which he was chief director of studies-with an image selected by the Arts Council of the Australian Writers and Artists Federation. Northfield took up painting in oils after the second World War and a number of his loosely impressionistic paintings were reproduced on Australian National Travel Association posters.

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