What a joy to discover that my mother collected and kept a folio of floral reprints commissioned and given away free at Shell Service Stations between 1959-1969.
The series comprised colour plates of vibrant flora peculiar to twelve Australian regional landscapes. Customers could collect one reprint per tank full.
The pictures were painted in gouache by Ralph Malcolm Warner (b. Geelong 1902, d. Queensland 1966) who, during WW2 worked for the Australian Army and Air Force as a camoufleur and official war artist.
In his subsequent commercial career, Warner designed postage stamps, murals, book illustrations and this “Discover Australia with Shell” campaign to promote drive tourism.
To my surprise, the original was available to purchase through an art auction house in Sydney, so I’m pleased to announce this as a new addition to my Gold Coast souvenir collection. The painting is in perfect condition and significantly larger and more vibrant than the Shell prints.
Fast forward to the present, and the economic potential of the Gold Coast’s hinterland is increasingly being promoted for Nature Based Tourism. Naturally, there are corresponding concerns about guarding these special landscapes.
