JARDINE, WALTER LACY (1884-1970)

"HMS Endeavour" (c.1930)
watercolour & gouache
17 x 20cm
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!!
 
The HMS Endeavour is best known as Captain Cook's ship, which arrived on the east coast of Australia in 1770, the beginning of White occupation, & Modern Australia.