Romance of the Rail

The Publicity Branch of the NZ Railways was an effective promotional machine for creating visual images of the New Zealand landscape and flooding the market with popular icons of New Zealand identity. With the advent of efficient transport networks and new modes of travel, New Zealanders were encouraged to explore their own backyard. Tourist posters and descriptive narratives like Cowan's glamorised the mountains, lakes, mudpools and geysers. The Government Printing Office led the way in hiring local and emigrant artists and in introducing a number of advanced colour printing techniques. This particular cover employs the broad planes and colour intensity of screenprinting to foreground a bold and expansive landscape.

Further reading:

• Lydia Wevers, Country of Writing . Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2002.