This book aims to redefine Australia’s earliest art history by chronicling for the first time the birth of the category "Aboriginal art," tracing the term’s use through published literature in the late eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Susan Lowish reveals how the idea of "Aboriginal art" developed in the European imagination, manifested in early literature, and became a distinct classification with its own criteria and form. Part of the larger story of Aboriginal/European engagement, this book provides a new vision for an Australian art history reconciled with its colonial origins and in recognition of what came before the contemporary phenomena of Aboriginal art.
A unique history of the Australian art market since World War II. Van den Bosch traces the development of the Australian art market from a small, parochial outpost to its integration into the major international art markets.
This comprehensive survey uniquely covers both Aboriginal art and that of European Australians, providing a revealing examination of the interaction between the two. Painting, bark art, photography, rock art, sculpture, and the decorative arts are all fully explored to present the rich texture of Australian art traditions. Well-known artists such as Margaret Preston, Rover Thomas, and Sidney Nolan are all discussed, as are the natural history illustrators, Aboriginal draughtsmen, and pastellists, whose work is only now being brought to light by new research. Taking the European colonization of the continent in 1788 as his starting point, Sayers highlights important issues concerning colonial art and women artists in this fascinating new story of Australian art.
'Painting matters to Australia and Australians as it does in few other countries. It has formed our consciousness, our sense of where we come from, and who we are. It cries out for wider recognition and acknowledgement.' - Patrick McCaughey Why has Australia, an island continent with a small population, produced such original and powerful art? And why is it so little known beyond our shores? Strange Country: Why Australian Painting Matters is Patrick McCaughey's answer.
History based on the ICI Australia collection of artwork. Describes and discusses the works in relation to the artists and their times. Includes famous artists such as Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton as well as those less well-known. Provides 120 colour plates and 50 black and white illustrations, as well as photographs of artists. Includes an index. Eagle is the senior curator of Australian art at the National Gallery of Australia. Her other books include 'The George Bell School' and 'Australian Modern Painting Between the Wars'. Jones is a former curator of Australian Paintings and Sculptures at the Australian National Gallery, and is now a freelance curator and historian.
A Companion to Australian Art is a thorough introduction to the art produced in Australia from the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 to the early 21st century. Beginning with the colonial art made by Australia’s first European settlers, this volume presents a collection of clear and accessible essays by established art historians and emerging scholars alike. Engaging, clearly-written chapters provide fresh insights into the principal Australian art movements, considered from a variety of chronological, regional and thematic perspectives. The text seeks to provide a balanced account of historical events to help readers discover the art of Australia on their own terms and draw their own conclusions. The book begins by surveying the historiography of Australian art and exploring the history of art museums in Australia. The following chapters discuss art forms such as photography, sculpture, portraiture and landscape painting, examining the practice of art in the separate colonies before Federation, and in the Commonwealth from the early 20th century to the present day. This authoritative volume covers the last 250 years of art in Australia, including the Early Colonial, High Colonial and Federation periods as well as the successive Modernist styles of the 20th century, and considers how traditional Aboriginal art has adapted and changed over the last fifty years. The Companion to Australian Art is a valuable resource for both undergraduate and graduate students of the history of Australian artforms from colonization to postmodernism, and for general readers with an interest in the nation’s colonial art history.
... over the course of half a century, Daniel has asked and answered the questions that no one else has thought of. Originality, curiosity, generosity and intellectual precision have always been at the heart of his work. Andrew Sayers, former director of the National Portrait Gallery, CanberraNo one knows more about Australian art than Daniel Thomas. Over the past sixty years, he has shaped Australian art history, championing women artists such as Grace Cossington Smith and extending the appreciation of art beyond museum walls to include performance and environmental art. Daniel's exhibitions and purchases - as the first museum professional at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, inaugural curator of Australian art at the National Gallery in Canberra, and director of the Art Gallery of South Australia - have defined our national canon of art.Covering the period from 1958 to 2020, Recent past: writing Australian art is the first anthology of Thomas's writings and presents an overview of Australian art, at once authoritative and idiosyncratic, bringing alive both old and new art.Daniel life's work has been to make art more widely understood and enjoyed. Yet most of his writings have appeared in specialist publications which are often now difficult to source. This book celebrates Daniel's contribution to Australian art and will introduce his writings to new generations of art enthusiasts.
Patterns of Australia represents a series of Australian landscapes and habitats (including the rainforest, desert, waterhole, coastal/ocean, bush, river, sky, wetlands, night-time and wildflowers) in "patterns", as seen through the eyes of acclaimed indigenous artist Bronwyn Bancroft. Ages 5+
