John Bainbridge (1918-1978). ORIENT LINE / BOOMERANG TRIPS. 1958. 40x25 inches, 101½x63½ cm. The Baynard Press, [London].

Lot description

JOHN BAINBRIDGE (1918-1978) ORIENT LINE / BOOMERANG TRIPS. 1958. 40x25 inches, 101 1/2x63 1/2 cm. The Baynard Press, [London]. Condition B+: tears, minor losses, creases, abrasions and foxing in margins; creases in image. Paper. Bainbridge, born in Sydney, New South Wales, was art director at the National Theatre in Melbourne, then moved to England in 1945, where he worked as an exhibition, theatre set and costume designer, a poster artist and documentary filmmaker. He designed travel posters for the British European Airways, Irish Air Lines, the SS France, London Transport (1953-1957) and the Orient Line, many of which convey a sense of humor and graphic playfulness. Throughout the 1950s the Orient Line advertised "Boomerang Trips" in magazines and with posters, promoting round trips from England to Australia, (and back again, like a boomerang). Bainbridge accomplishes his promotion by making a ship gangway appear in the form of a boomerang.