White On Black: The Australian Aborigine Portrayed In Art
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: errata slip on half title-page/
A landmark work at the intersection of art history and cultural criticism, White on Black: The Australian Aborigine Portrayed in Art presents a sweeping and often unsettling examination of how Indigenous Australians have been depicted by non-Aboriginal artists across centuries of colonial and post-colonial history. Geoffrey Dutton chronicles the visual record left by European painters, illustrators, and photographers — images that range from romanticised noble savage portrayals to dehumanising caricatures — and holds them up to unflinching scrutiny, revealing how art has both reflected and reinforced the dominant culture's attitudes toward Aboriginal peoples. Dutton brings the analytical rigour of a cultural historian and the refined sensibility of a poet to this richly illustrated volume, arguing that the canvas and the sketchbook have always been instruments of power, capable of silencing or amplifying a people's identity. Published in association with the Art Gallery Board of South Australia, the work draws on a remarkable breadth of archival and gallery holdings, situating each image within its precise historical and ideological context. Thought-provoking and visually commanding, White on Black forces the reader to ask a question that still resonates with urgent contemporary relevance: who has the right to define another culture's image?
Author: Geoffrey Dutton
Format: Hardback
Published: 1974, Macmillan, published in association with The Art Gallery Board of South Australia
Genre: History of arts
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: errata slip on half title-page/
A landmark work at the intersection of art history and cultural criticism, White on Black: The Australian Aborigine Portrayed in Art presents a sweeping and often unsettling examination of how Indigenous Australians have been depicted by non-Aboriginal artists across centuries of colonial and post-colonial history. Geoffrey Dutton chronicles the visual record left by European painters, illustrators, and photographers — images that range from romanticised noble savage portrayals to dehumanising caricatures — and holds them up to unflinching scrutiny, revealing how art has both reflected and reinforced the dominant culture's attitudes toward Aboriginal peoples. Dutton brings the analytical rigour of a cultural historian and the refined sensibility of a poet to this richly illustrated volume, arguing that the canvas and the sketchbook have always been instruments of power, capable of silencing or amplifying a people's identity. Published in association with the Art Gallery Board of South Australia, the work draws on a remarkable breadth of archival and gallery holdings, situating each image within its precise historical and ideological context. Thought-provoking and visually commanding, White on Black forces the reader to ask a question that still resonates with urgent contemporary relevance: who has the right to define another culture's image?