Editing Culture of Australia (section)

===Visual arts===
{{Main|Visual arts of Australia}}
{{See also|Indigenous Australian art}}

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| image1 = Bradshaw rock paintings2.jpg
| caption1 = [[Gwion Gwion rock paintings]] in the [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley]] region of Western Australia
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| caption2 = ''[[Sunbaker]]'' (1937), an iconic photograph by [[Max Dupain]]
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Aboriginal [[rock art]] is the oldest continuous art tradition in the world, dating as far back as 60,000 years. From the [[Gwion Gwion rock paintings|Gwion Gwion]] and [[Wondjina]] imagery in the [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley]] to the [[Sydney rock engravings]], it is spread across hundreds of thousands of sites, making Australia the richest continent in terms of [[prehistoric art]].<ref>Taçon, Paul S. C. (2001). "Australia". In Whitely, David S.. ''Handbook of Rock Art Research''. [[Rowman & Littlefield]]. pp. 531–575. {{ISBN|978-0-7425025-6-7}}</ref> 19th-century Indigenous activist [[William Barak]] painted ceremonial scenes, such as [[corroboree]]s.<ref>Sayers, Andrew. ''Aboriginal artists of the nineteenth century''. Oxford University Press, 1994. {{ISBN|0-19-553392-5}}, p. 6</ref> The [[Hermannsburg School]], led by [[Albert Namatjira]], received national fame in the 1950s for their desert [[watercolour]]s.<ref>[http://www.hermannsburgschool.com/index.php?history History of the Hermannsburg School], Hermannsburg School. Retrieved 9 December 2012.</ref> Leading critic [[Robert Hughes (critic)|Robert Hughes]] saw [[contemporary Indigenous Australian art|contemporary Indigenous art]] as "the last great art movement of the 20th century".<ref>Henly, Susan Gough (6 November 2005). [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/arts/06iht-aborigine.html?pagewanted=all "Powerful growth of Aboriginal art"], ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved 20 November 2012.</ref> Key exponents such as [[Emily Kame Kngwarreye]], [[Rover Thomas]] and the [[Papunya Tula]] group use acrylic paints on canvas to depict [[Dreaming (spirituality)|dreaming]]s set in a symbolic topography. [[Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri]]'s ''[[Warlugulong]]'' (1977) typifies this style, popularly known as "[[dot painting]]". Art is important both culturally and economically to Indigenous society; central Australian Indigenous communities have "the highest per capita concentrations of artists anywhere in the world".<ref>{{cite news|title=Next generation Papunya|last=Grishin|first=Sasha|date=8 December 2007|work=The Canberra Times|page=6}}</ref> Issues of race and identity are raised in the works of many [[Contemporary Indigenous Australian art#Urban art|'urban']] Indigenous artists, including [[Gordon Bennett (artist)|Gordon Bennett]] and [[Tracey Moffatt]].

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 | caption1 = ''[[Shearing the Rams]]'' (1890) by [[Heidelberg School]] artist [[Tom Roberts]]
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 | caption2 = [[Sidney Nolan]]'s ''Snake'' (1972), held at the [[Museum of Old and New Art]]
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 | caption3 = ''[[Lonely Planet]]'' heralded Melbourne as the "street art capital of the world".<ref name="streetart">Freeman-Greene, Suzy (26 February 2011). [http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/street-art-deserves-more-than-a-citys-double-standards-20110225-1b8i0.html "Street art deserves more than a city's double standards"], ''The Age''. Retrieved 20 November 2012.</ref>
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[[John Glover (artist)|John Glover]] and [[Eugene von Guerard]] were among the foremost landscape painters during the colonial era.<ref>Copeland, Julie (1998). [http://www.abc.net.au/arts/headspace/rn/special/brush/brush1.htm "A Brush with Landscape, Part 1"], ''Headspace'' '''2'''. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 8 December 2012.</ref> The origins of a distinctly Australian school of painting is often associated with the [[Heidelberg School]] of the late 1800s.<ref name="ausart"/> Major figures of the movement include [[Tom Roberts]], [[Arthur Streeton]] and [[Frederick McCubbin]]. They painted ''[[en plein air]]'', like the [[French Impressionists]], and sought to capture the intense light and unique colours of the Australian bush. Popular works such as McCubbin's ''[[Down on His Luck]]'' (1889) and Roberts' ''[[Shearing the Rams]]'' (1890) defined an emerging sense of national identity in the lead-up to Federation.<ref>[http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/australianimpressionism/education/insights_national.html Australian Impressionism | National themes], National Gallery of Victoria. Retrieved 18 November 2012.</ref> Civic monuments to national heroes were erected; an early example is [[Charles Summers]]' 1865 statue of the ill-fated explorers [[Burke and Wills]], located in Melbourne.<ref>Williams, Donald. ''In Our Own Image: The Story of Australian Art''. Melbourne: [[Cengage Learning|Cengage Learning Australia]], 2002. {{ISBN|0-07-471030-3}}, pp. 42–43</ref>

Among the first Australian artists to gain a reputation overseas was the impressionist [[John Peter Russell]] in the 1880s. He and [[Charles Conder]] of the Heidelberg School were the only Australian painters known to have close links with the European [[avant-garde]] at the time.<ref>[[Robert Hughes (critic)|Hughes, Robert]]. ''The Art of Australia''. Melbourne: [[Penguin Books]], 1970. {{ISBN|0-87585-103-7}}, p. 93</ref> Other notable expatriates include [[Rupert Bunny]], a [[Salon (Paris)|salon]] painter of sensual portraits, and sculptor [[Bertram Mackennal]], known for his commissioned works in Australia and abroad.<ref name="ausart"/>

The Heidelberg tradition lived on in [[Hans Heysen]]'s imagery of gum trees.<ref>Hylton, Jane; [[John Molony|Molony, John]]. ''Hans Heysen: Into the Light''. Adelaide: Wakefield Press, 2004. {{ISBN|1-86254-657-6}}, p. 12</ref> [[Roy de Maistre]] and [[Grace Cossington Smith]] were pioneers of [[modern art|modernism]] in Australia.<ref>[[Humphrey McQueen|McQueen, Humphrey]]. ''The Black Swan of Trespass: The Emergence of Modernist Painting in Australia to 1944''. Sydney: Alternative Publishing, 1979. {{ISBN|0-909188-12-2}}, p. 4</ref> [[Jessie Traill]] and [[Margaret Preston]] excelled at printmaking;<ref>{{cite book|last=Butler|first=Roger|title=Printed. Images by Australian Artists 1885–1955|publisher=National Gallery of Australia|location=Canberra, ACT|year=2007|isbn=978-0642-54204-5|page=90}}</ref> the latter artist advocated for a modern national art based on Aboriginal designs.<ref>[[Terry Smith (art historian)|Smith, Terry]]. ''Transformations in Australian Art, Volume 2: The 20th Century – Modernism and Aboriginality''. Sydney: Craftsman House, 2002. {{ISBN|1-877004-14-6}}, p. 8</ref> The conservative art establishment largely opposed modern art, as did the Lindsays and [[Australian Tonalists]].<ref>Williams, John Frank. ''The Quarantined Culture: Australian Reactions to Modernism, 1913–1939''. [[Cambridge University Press]], 1995. {{ISBN|0-521-47713-1}}, pp.&nbsp;1–14</ref> Controversy over modern art in Australia reached a climax when [[William Dobell]] won the 1943 [[Archibald Prize]] for portraiture.<ref>[http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/archibald/history/controversy-and-debate/ Archibald Prize | Controversy and debate], Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 18 November 2012.</ref> Despite such opposition, new artistic trends grew in popularity. Photographer [[Max Dupain]] created bold modernist compositions of Sydney beach culture.<ref>White, Jill. ''Dupain's Beaches''. Sydney: Chapter & Verse, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0-947322-17-5}}</ref> [[Sidney Nolan]], [[Arthur Boyd]], [[Joy Hester]] and [[Albert Tucker (artist)|Albert Tucker]] were members of the [[Angry Penguins]], a group of [[expressionist]]s who revived Australian landscape painting through the use of myth, folklore and personal symbolism.<ref>Haese, Richard. ''Rebels and Precursors: The Revolutionary Years of Australian Art''. Melbourne: Penguin Books, 1988. {{ISBN|0-14-010634-0}}</ref> The use of [[surrealism]] allowed artists to evoke the strange disquiet of the outback, exemplified in Nolan's iconic [[Ned Kelly]] series and [[Russell Drysdale]]'s ''[[The Cricketers]]'' (1948). The post-war landscapes of [[Fred Williams (artist)|Fred Williams]], [[Ian Fairweather]] and [[John Olsen (Australian artist)|John Olsen]] border on [[abstract art|abstraction]],<ref name="ausart">[http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/discover-art/learn-more/australian-art/ Australian art], Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 20 November 2012.</ref> while the [[Antipodeans]] and [[Brett Whiteley]] further explored the possibilities of figurative painting.

Photographer [[Bill Henson]], sculptor [[Ron Mueck]], and "living art exhibit" [[Leigh Bowery]] are among Australia's best-known contemporary artists. [[Pro Hart]]'s output of [[Australiana]], [[Michael Leunig]]'s poetic cartoons, and [[Ken Done]]'s Sydney Harbor views are widely known through reproductions. [[Public art]]works have sprung up in unlikely places, from the annual [[Sculpture by the Sea]] exhibitions to the rural [[folk art]] of "[[Australia's big things]]". Australian [[street art]] flourished at the turn of the 21st century, [[Melbourne street art|particularly in Melbourne]].<ref name="streetart"/>

Major arts institutions in Australia include the [[National Gallery of Victoria]] in Melbourne, the [[National Gallery of Australia]], [[National Museum of Australia]] and [[National Portrait Gallery (Australia)|National Portrait Gallery]] in Canberra, and the [[Art Gallery of New South Wales]] in Sydney. The [[Museum of Old and New Art]] in Hobart is the Southern Hemisphere's largest private museum.<ref>[http://www.economist.com/node/18007819 "Art in Tasmania: Something new"] (27 January 2011), ''[[The Economist]]''. Retrieved 14 December 2012.</ref>