From the snowy to the sea, men of value serve Australia!

Place Oceania: Australia
Accession Number ARTV10129
Collection type Art
Measurement Overall: 54.5 x 72 cm; sheet: 50.5 x 63.4 cm
Object type Poster
Physical description screenprint on paper on linen
Maker Unknown
Place made Australia
Date made March 1960
Conflict Army organisation period 1961-
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

This Australian Army recruitment poster relates directly to the re-establishment of the defence forces into the Pentropic Division of organisation. The Pentropic Division was formally announced and implemented in March 1960. It comprised of five battle groups, instead of the division-brigade-battalion structure that had previously existed. It was based on the Pentomic example utilised by the United States of America (USA).

'From the snow to the sea' is from the poster recruitment series 'Men of Value serve Australia!'. This series of posters are strong historical documents that indicate the change in approach to establishing the Australian Regular Army as a long term modern career option, with a focus on technology, science and travel. The posters are visually dynamic, using a restricted colour palette of bright, contrasting colours with bold headlines, to create an aesthetic synthesis of art with emerging modern promotional tactics. Accompanied by broad, nationalistic slogans that are cryptic, short and witty, the posters present the Australian Regular Army as an excellent career choice for men of character and adaptability that could be entrusted to protect Australian interests' locally and abroad.

'From the snowy to the sea' demonstrates just this. Two young male soldiers are at work. One is in the Snowy Mountains conducting surveying work, while the other is at sea, steering a boat. The black and white graphics of the soldiers in their khaki uniforms stand out against the sky blue and white background, particularly against the stark black, red, blue and white lettering. To contextualise this image into Australian pride and experience, a large image of the well known motif, the Rising Sun is a prominent feature of the poster.