From prehistoric times to the present, Australian art refers to art created in or about Australia, or by Australians living abroad. This category covers Aboriginal, Colonial, Landscape, Atelier, and early-twentieth-century painters, printmakers, photographers, and sculptors influenced by European modernism, as well as Contemporary art. In Australia, the visual arts have a lengthy history, with Aboriginal art stretching back at least 30,000 years. The Heidelberg School plain air painters, the Antipodeans, the Central Australian Hermann burg School watercolorists, the Western Desert Art Movement, and coeval examples of well-known High modernism and postmodern art are just a few examples of notable artists from both Western and Indigenous Australian schools.
Indigenous Australia
Aboriginal Australians’ ancestors are said to have arrived in Australia as early as 60,000 years ago, and evidence of Aboriginal art may be found in Australia dating back at least 30,000 years. Throughout the continent, there are examples of old Aboriginal rock art. National parks, such as the UNESCO-listed Uluru and Kakadu National Parks in the Northern Territory, and the Gwion Gwion rock art in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, are notable examples. In metropolitan places, such as Sydney’s Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, rock art can also be found in protected parks. The rock engravings in Sydney are between 5000 and 200 years old. Friends of Australian Rock Art advocates for its preservation in Murujuga, Western Australia, and the numerous engravings there were heritage listed in 2007.
Australian Cave Art is similar to that of Lascaux and Altamira in Europe in terms of antiquity and abundance, and Aboriginal art is said to be the world’s longest surviving art tradition. The geometric style, noted for its concentric circles, arcs, and dots, is found in Central Australia, Tasmania, the Kimberley, and Victoria; the simple figurative style, found in Queensland; and the complicated figurative style, found in Arnhem Land, which includes X-Ray art. The mysticism of the Dreamtime is typically associated with these designs.1895, William Barak, Corroboree William Barak (c.1824-1903) was a Wurundjeri-willam (people from the territory that today includes Melbourne) who was one of the last traditional educated.
He is remembered for his paintings that depicted traditional Aboriginal ways of life in order to educate Westerners (which remain on permanent exhibition at the Ian Potter Centre of the National Gallery of Victoria and at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery). Margaret Preston (1875–1963) was one of the first non-indigenous painters to use Aboriginal elements in her work. Albert Namatjira (1902–1959) was an Arrernte man and a well-known Australian artist. The Hermannsburg School of art was inspired by his landscapes. Elizabeth Durack’s work is remarkable for its blend of Western and indigenous influences. Indigenous artists have been using acrylic paints since the 1970s, with styles like the Western Desert Art Movement becoming internationally recognised 20th-century art trends.
The National Gallery of Australia
Houses a large collection of indigenous art, including pieces of the Torres Strait Islanders, who are famous for their traditional sculpting and headgear. The Art Gallery of New South Wales houses a large collection of Aboriginal Australian art. In May 2011, Paul Taçon, Director of Griffith University’s Place, Evolution, and Rock Art Heritage Unit (PERAHU), urged for the construction of a national database for rock art. In May 2011, Paul Taçon and well-known Australian actor Jack Thompson launched the “Protect Australia’s Spirit” campaign. This effort intends to develop the first fully resourced national archive dedicated to bringing together information about rock art sites as well as future rock art management and conservation planning. If they were supported by philanthropists, big business, and government, the National Rock Art Institute would bring together current rock art knowledge from Griffith University, Australian National University, and the University of Western Australia. The journal Rock Art Research is published twice a year and covers international rock art studies.
