Art Reviews

The ‘A’ and ‘E’ of the Jeffrey Smart painting Mr and Mrs A.E. 1959 is thought to be Smart’s satirical comment on Abstract Expressionism. The painting comes from an intensely productive period for Smart as he negotiated his active life as a favoured art educator on the ABC in parallel with his…

Garry Shead has been recognised as one of Australia’s most highly acclaimed lyrical figurative painters and was awarded the Archibald Prize in 1993 and the Dobell Prize for Drawing in 2004. He has been celebrated as one of the most significant artists of the post-war period to emerge from Sydney…

Brett Whiteley’s forms – whether in painting or sculpture – follow an expressive contour that can only be conceived via the drawn line. The immediacy of a Whiteley sketch allows candid access to its subject for the beholder and artist alike. We are constantly reminded of his draughtsmanship in…

Over the summer of 1987-1988, a huge retrospective exhibition of John Brack’s work was held at the National Gallery of Victoria where he was widely acclaimed as Australia’s greatest living artist. The exhibition was greeted by huge crowds, enthusiastic reviews, and through an affirmation amongst…

Of all the Australian painters who emerged in the middle of the twentieth century, Brett Whiteley was the most mercurial, and certainly the most ambitious to make an impact on the world stage. This he achieved driven through a Promethean addictive genius that eventually propelled him towards…

David Hockney arrived in Los Angeles in 1963 to find a city that was vast and fast-moving. Against the advice of others, who insisted East not West, Hockney found a world of light and architecture, its newness marked by freeways and its setting edged by water. Amidst its people and pools Hockney…

Fred Williams returned to Australia from London in 1956 as a 29-year-old with fresh eyes for his homeland. The unique Australian landscape struck him as peculiar after five years abroad, and he became determined to capture it in a way that had not been done so previously. To that end he…

In August, we bade farewell to Brice Marden (1938-2023). There is no shortage to his accolades, having been described throughout his career as a ‘cult artist’, ‘rockstar of the artworld’, and ’one of the most influential artists of our times.’¹

Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s place within the top echelon of Australia’s abstract painters is assured; acclaimed for making us see abstract art differently and, more importantly, the genius of her making us see the landscape differently.¹

John Olsen was a lover of birds. Not surprisingly, many of his favourite birds could be encountered within a stone’s throw of where he was living in the city or bush. Birdlife would also be encountered and sketched on his many explorations of the Australian landscape, including the desert,…