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Listed under:  Arts  >  Regional art
Video

John Lewin: 'Reed warbler' 1805

Natural history illustrator John Lewin was the first professional artist to come to Australia as a free settler. His collected illustrations of native birds became the first non-government book published in the colony. How difficult do you think it was to identify and illustrate so many different birds?

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Emma Boyd: 'The quail shooter' 1884

In this work Emma Boyd depicts the landscape near her home, ‘The Grange', in Victoria. See how the landscape dominates the single human figure? What do you think this suggests? What is the artists trying to say by creating this sense of scale?

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John Glover: 'Patterdale landscape with cattle' c. 1833

John Glover migrated to Tasmania in 1831, arriving on his 64th birthday. He is considered one of Australia's most important artists of the early 19th century and the colonial period. This piece was one of the first he completed after taking up a land grant in Patterdale on the Nile River. The pastoral scene depicts the ...

Video

Finding beauty in the everyday

Lin Martin is passionate about the connections between science, nature, humanity and Buddhism, all of which come together in her art. Her photographs explore the beauty all around us, in our everyday natural surroundings. It is in these small moments captured by her work, where she draws attention to tiny details in nature, ...

Video

Conrad Martens: 'View from Rose Bank' 1840

Many early artists romanticised the Australian colonial landscape and did not always strictly paint what they saw. In this example Martens has given the landscape a decidedly Italian atmosphere, softening the colour palate and creating a more ‘civilised' view. Can you think of why the artist may be interested in changing ...

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The Sydney Bird Painter: 'The white gallinule' c. 1791-92

Can you imagine what it would have been like to arrive in Australia and see its unique flora and fauna for the first time? Scientific drawings of Australia's flora and fauna emerged with the arrival of the first European settlers who were fascinated by how unusual they were. Sadly, even as they documented these extraordinary ...

Online

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art

This lesson plan (PDF) examines the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art contained within the National Gallery of Australia collection. Links to artworks are provided to support students' critical analysis of the forms of each work of art and to understand the rich diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ...

Video

Eugene von Guérard: 'North-east view from the northern top of Mount Kosciusko' 1863

In this landscape Eugene von Guérard blends topographical accuracy with the grandness of a mountain top view which he witnessed in 1862 as a member of a geographical survey led by scientist Georg von Neumayer. The artist has taken some liberties with the depiction of the boulders in the foreground to demonstrate the enormous ...

Video

'The Rajah quilt' 1841

The Rajah quilt was made by female convicts on route from England to the colony of Tasmania in 1841. It consists of 2815 pieces of fabric and was presented to the Governor's wife upon arrival as a testament to the women's industry. The women learned these skills on the long journey to Australia on board their convict ship ...

Video

Max Meldrum: 'Poland (Madame de Tarczynska)', 1917

This resource includes an enlargeable image, with corresponding catalogue information, of the painting 'Poland (Madame de Tarczynska)' by Max Meldrum (1875-1955). There is also a video with audio commentary on the artist's career and an interpretation of the artwork. Onscreen text provides additional information about the ...

Video

John Olsen: 'Sydney sun', 1965

This resource includes an enlargeable image and corresponding catalogue information of the landscape painting 'Sydney sun' by John Olsen. There is also a video with audio commentary providing an interpretation of the artwork. The onscreen text outlines additional information about the artist, his career, influential ideas ...

Image

Yoshitomo Nara: nobody's fool

This is a website introducing the exhibition, 'Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody's fool' (2010-11, USA) featuring artworks by the Japanese pop artist. Information about the exhibition is organised under three headings: Isolation, Rebellion and Music. Also included are images and information about Nara's installations (including a ...

Video

James Cant: 'Objects in the landscape', 1936

This resource includes an enlargeable image, with corresponding catalogue information, of the surrealist painting 'Objects in the landscape' by James Cant (1911-82). There is also a video with audio commentary, onscreen text on the artist's career and an interpretation of the painting. Cant was influenced by Surrealism, ...

Video

Rosalie Gascoigne: 'Suddenly the Lake', 1995

This resource includes an enlargeable image, with corresponding catalogue information, of the four-part series of assembled landscapes 'Suddenly the lake' by Rosalie Gascoigne. There is also a video with audio commentary providing an interpretation of the artwork. The corresponding onscreen text gives additional information ...

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Water

This is a PDF resource that focuses on the theme of water in Australian artworks, featuring 15 different artworks using various mediums. Each page includes an image, description and context of the artwork, and information about the artist, as well as specific focus questions or key statements that prompt a response to the ...

Video

Jogja hip-hop reaches birthplace of hip-hop

This is an article about the impact and influence of hip-hop music on the youth of Yogyakarta in Java, Indonesia. The author highlights the strengths of a globalised hip-hop culture to nurture young Indonesian artists who incorporate Javanese colloquial language into their lyrics. There is also a video clip of performance ...

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Tony Albert, 'ASH on me', 2008

This is an installation by Girramay artist Tony Albert (b1981) using black text that reads ‘ASH on me’ and found objects: ceramic and metal ashtrays. These objects present Aboriginal people in different ways, some as caricatures. The work of art is shown as an enlargeable image. Text onscreen gives information about Albert’s ...

Text

Serious fun: a conversation with Yoshitomo Nara and Hideki Toyoshima

This is a video of an interview with the Japanese pop artist Yoshitomo Nara and his long-term collaborator, the Osaka designer Hideki Toyoshima, about the 2010 exhibition 'Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody's fool'. The interview is conducted by the exhibition curator, Miwako Tezuka, and is provided in two formats: a short 3-minute ...

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Julie Gough, 'Some Tasmanian Aboriginal children living with non-Aboriginal people before 1840', 2008

This is a sculpture by Trawlwoolway artist Julie Gough representing the experiences of Tasmanian Aboriginal children living with non-Aboriginal people. It was exhibited in the second National Indigenous Art Triennial,' unDisclosed', at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA). Further information about the artists and the ...

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Danie Mellor, 'Culture warriors', 2007

This is a mixed media artwork by Mamu/Ngagen/Ngajan artist Danie Mellor (b1971), presenting two fighting kangaroos in the foreground of a ‘traditional’ fine bone china scene. The drawing/collage is shown as an enlargeable image. It was exhibited in the 2008 travelling exhibition of the first National Indigenous Art Triennial, ...