Reusing content from this guide
Finding introductory material
Use this guide to find information about Australian Art, from Indigenous Australian Art, to Colonial or Modern Australian Art.
Consult introductory material for a broad overview of your issue or topic, and to identify key concepts, theories and researchers in the field. Introductory material may include:
- Subject or discipline specific dictionaries and encyclopedias
- Handbooks
- Companions
- Introductions
- Guides
- Histories
Find introductory material by combining a topic keyword with one of the material type descriptors above, e.g. "Australian art" handbook.
These are some examples of introductory material available for this subject in the Library. This list is not extensive, you should perform your own search to see what else is available in our collections.
The Cambridge companion to Australian art by From rock art to Australian modernism, from bark paintings to the Heidelberg School, The Cambridge Companion to Australian Art provides a wide-ranging overview of the movements, themes and media found in Australian art. This Companion features essays that explore the influence of different cultures on Australian art, written by some of the leading scholars and professionals working in the field.
The Oxford companion to Aboriginal art and culture by Provides a wide-ranging reference to Indigenous Australian art, covering historical traditions and contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art practices.
A Companion to Australian Art by This book is an introduction to the art produced in Australia over the period since the settlement that began with the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. Its contributors are a combination of veteran art historians and younger scholars, but all were asked to provide fresh, clear and engaging accounts of their subjects, free of academic jargon and ideological tendentiousness. Most of the chapters concern significant periods, arranged in a roughly chronological order, but several are focused on particular regions or particular artforms which would otherwise be lost in the broader historical current.
Papunya painting: out of the desert by Presenting the National Museum of Australia's collection of Papunya Tula art, this volume situates these works in place and time, providing unique insight into the Papunya artists' lives and cultures, and how these were expressed.
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Find material on the subject of Australian Art History for your assignments and research.