JARDINE, WALTER LACY (1884-1970)

"Clipper Outside The Heads" (c.1930)
watercolour & gouache
22 x 28cm
signed lower right
*private collection, Sydney

Walter Lacy Jardine wasa leading Australian Commercial Artist & Graphic Designer. When quite young he was apprenticed to newspaper artist J. H. Leonard, & later studied under J. S. Watkins. By age 17 he was a regular contributing artist to The Australian Star newspaper. In 1923 he left for New York, where he become known for his detailed drawings on scraper-board, & illustrated William Randolph Hearst’s Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping & Motor magazines, the American Legion's magazine & other cover art and commercial work. In 1928 he returned to Sydney, where he was soon back at work, creating advertisements that appeared in The Bulletin, Home & other papers as well as posters. He also illustrated articles that appeared in The Bulletin. Over the years he produced posters advertising some of Australia's best-known brands: Akubra hats, Arnott's Biscuits, Burns Philp travel, Orient Line travel, Pelaco shirts, Qantas air travel, Royal Agricultural Society, Stamina men's wear, Tooth & Co beer, & Tooheys beer. His original watercolour & gouaches are almost non existent, but his graphic posters are highly sought after & represented in most important Australian institutions, including the Powerhouse Museum!!