{{Short description|Australian graphic artist (1887–1973)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}} '''James Northfield''' (1887–1973) was an Australian graphic artist active from the 1910s through to the 1960s. He illustrated many commercial and government advertisements which depict Australian scenery, wildlife and daily life<ref>[https://archive.today/20141208050514/http://www.uq.edu.au/centreqld/images-banners-cascades-brisbane-jpg "Triumph in the Tropics: Selling Queensland"]. ''Centre for the Government of Queensland''</ref> and also demonstrate the priorities of the government of the day.<ref name="Caban1983">{{cite book|author=Caban, Geoffrey|title=A Fine Line: A History of Australian Commercial Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yn3sAAAAMAAJ|date=1 January 1983|publisher=Hale & Iremonger|isbn=978-0-86806-012-5}}</ref><ref name="CrawfordStuart2010">{{cite book|author1=Crawford, Robert|author2=Stuart, Judith|author3=Humphery, Kim|name-list-style=amp|title=Consumer Australia: historical perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KXcpAQAAMAAJ|date=1 August 2010|publisher=Cambridge Scholars|isbn=978-1-4438-2270-1}}</ref>
Northfield is best known as the designer of a series of posters for the Australian National Travel Association, who commissioned him, alongside Percy Trompf, Walter Jardine, Eileen Mayo, Gert Sellheim and C. Dudley Wood to promote Australian holiday destinations to local and overseas travellers.<ref name="ButlerAustralia2007">{{cite book|author1=Butler, Roger|author2=National Gallery of Australia|name-list-style=amp|title=Printed images by Australian artists, 1885-1955|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rkWdAAAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=National Gallery of Australia|isbn=978-0-642-54204-5}}</ref><ref name="HogbenO'Callaghan2014">{{cite book|author1=Hogben, Paul|author2=O'Callaghan, Judith|name-list-style=amp|title=Leisure Space: The Transformation of Sydney, 1945-1970|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_lP3AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36|date=1 June 2014|publisher=NewSouth|isbn=978-1-74224-680-2|pages=36–}}</ref> Many of these 'Travel Poster' designs were included in the 1999–2000 exhibition ''Follow the Sun – Australian travel posters 1930s–1950s'' at the National Library of Australia, and in various other public exhibitions.<ref>Crawford, Robert. "''James Northfield and the Art of Selling Australia'' by Michelle Hetherington" (review). National Library of Australia</ref>
Northfield also created a series of patriotic posters during World War II.<ref name="Stanley2008">{{cite book|author=Stanley, Peter|title=Invading Australia: Japan and the Battle for Australia, 1942|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1fjeAAAAMAAJ|date=3 June 2008|publisher=Penguin Group Australia|isbn=978-0-670-02925-9}}</ref><ref name="Kwan2006">{{cite book|author=Kwan, Elizabeth|title=Flag and Nation: Australians and their national flags since 1901|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=el_JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA56|date=1 May 2006|publisher=UNSW Press|isbn=978-1-74224-687-1|pages=56–}}</ref>
A detailed monograph of Northfield's work, ''James Northfield and the Art of Selling Australia'', has been completed by author Michelle Hetherington of the National Museum of Australia.<ref>{{cite book|title=Australian Book Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z04iAQAAMAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Australian Book Review}}</ref>
The James Northfield Heritage Art Trust (JNHAT), a not-for-profit Trust, was registered in October 2002 to preserve, protect and promote Northfield's artworks.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 April 2025 |title=About - James Northfield Artist |url=https://jamesnorthfield.com.au/about |website=James Northfield Artist}}</ref>
== References ==
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== External links == *[http://www.jamesnorthfield.org.au/works.htm Extensive gallery of image thumbnails sorted by category.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801093940/http://jamesnorthfield.org.au/works.htm |date=1 August 2013 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Northfield, James}} Category:20th-century Australian artists Category:1887 births Category:1973 deaths Category:Australian graffiti artists Category:Australian poster artists Category:Tourism in Australia