Gert Sellheim Travel Posters

Overview

This issue comprises three travel posters by influential graphic designer Gert Sellheim (1901‒1970). Sellheim was born in Estonia to German parents. He studied architecture in Germany, Austria and France before immigrating to Australia, arriving in Fremantle, Western Australia in 1926. In 1930 he moved to Melbourne, where he practised as an industrial and commercial designer.

Throughout the 1930s and 40s Sellheim designed the striking lithographic posters for which he is now best known. These were predominantly travel posters for the Australian National Travel Association (Australia: Surf Club, c. 1936, Sunshine and Surf: Australia, c. 1936) Australian Railways and Victorian Railways (The Seaside Calls: Go by Train, c. 1938). In contrast to many of his Australian-trained contemporaries, Sellheim’s hard-edged, abstract style was strongly influenced by European modernist movements, including Art Deco, Surrealism, Futurism and Dada.

In 1939, he won the Sulman Prize for his mural decoration on the wall of the Victorian Government Tourist Bureau, Hotel Australia building, Collins Street, Melbourne. In 1945, Sellheim and his family moved to Sydney, where he established a successful design studio. Sellheim designed the first iteration of the iconic Qantas “flying kangaroo” logo in 1947. He was among the first artists to draw inspiration from the art of Indigenous Australians, and in 1948 designed a postage stamp in homage to Aboriginal art.

Sellheim died at his home in Lane Cove in 1970, at the age of 68.

Technical specifications

Issue date: 27 February 2024
Issue withdrawal date: 21 September 2024
Denomination: $1.20 x 3
Stamp & product design: Simone Sakinofsky, Australia Post Design Studio
Paper: gummed: Tullis Russell 104gsm Red Phosphor
Paper: self-adhesive: Tullis Russell Red Phos PSA (P55) 100gsm Rel. S/A
Printer: EGO
Printing process: Offset lithography
Stamp size (mm): 26 x 37.5
Minisheet (mm): 130 x 80
Perforations: 14.6 x 13.86
Sheet layout: Module of 50 (2 x 25 no design)
FDI Postmark: Bondi Beach, NSW 2026
FDI withdrawal date: 27 March 2024

Stamps in this issue

$1.20 Australia – Surf Club

This poster by Gert Sellheim was printed around 1936 by Sands & McDougall Pty Ltd for the Australian National Travel Association (ANTA). It is a colour lithograph and the copy on the stamp is held in State Library Victoria, Charles Weetman Collection. © Nik Sellheim, courtesy Josef Lebovic Gallery, Sydney.

$1.20 The Seaside Calls – Go by Train

This poster by Gert Sellheim was printed c. 1938 by FW Niven Pty Ltd for Victorian Railways. It is a colour lithograph and the copy on the stamp is held in the collection of State Library Victoria, gift of Mr Grant Lee, 2007. © Nik Sellheim, courtesy Josef Lebovic Gallery, Sydney.

$1.20 Sunshine and Surf – Australia

This poster by Gert Sellheim was printed c. 1936 by Troedel & Cooper for ANTA. It is a colour lithograph and this copy is held in the collection of the National Library of Australia, POSTER 2023-3469. © Nik Sellheim, courtesy Josef Lebovic Gallery, Sydney.

Gallery

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Shop our stamp collectables

Set of Gert Sellheim Travel Posters Gummed Stamps

This set of stamps presents the three stamps from the Gert Sellheim Travel Posters stamp issue.

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Gert Sellheim Travel Posters Booklet of Self-Adhesive Stamps

This Gert Sellheim Travel Posters booklet of 20 x mixed self-adhesive stamps from the stamp issue presents the three stamp designs.

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Gert Sellheim Travel Posters Stamp Pack

This Gert Sellheim Travel Posters stamp pack presents the gummed stamps and minisheet from the Gert Sellheim Travel Posters stamp issue in a beach-themed folder.

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