Place, Taste And Tradition: A Study Of Australian Art Since 1788
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:
Condition: Good to fair. Jacket: good, worn/faded (refer to image). Page Condition: Good - possible tanning. Markings: possible previous owner inscription.
Few books have reshaped the way a nation understands its own creative identity, but Bernard Smith's landmark study does precisely that, tracing the evolution of Australian visual art from the earliest colonial settlements of 1788 through to the modern era. With the authority of a pioneering art historian, Smith charts the forces — geographic isolation, colonial ambition, Indigenous heritage, and European aesthetic tradition — that converged to produce a distinctly Australian artistic voice. The work presents a sweeping cultural narrative, examining how painters, sculptors, and printmakers negotiated the tension between a vast, unforgiving landscape and the imported tastes of the Old World. Smith's prose is rigorous yet accessible, grounding his arguments in close analysis of individual works while never losing sight of the broader social and political currents that shaped them. This text stands as a foundational document in Australian art history, having informed generations of curators, critics, and scholars who followed in its wake. For anyone seeking to understand not just what Australian artists made, but *why* they made it, this volume remains an indispensable and quietly revelatory guide.
Author: Bernard Smith
Format: Hardback
Genre: History of arts
Condition remarks:
Condition: Good to fair. Jacket: good, worn/faded (refer to image). Page Condition: Good - possible tanning. Markings: possible previous owner inscription.
Few books have reshaped the way a nation understands its own creative identity, but Bernard Smith's landmark study does precisely that, tracing the evolution of Australian visual art from the earliest colonial settlements of 1788 through to the modern era. With the authority of a pioneering art historian, Smith charts the forces — geographic isolation, colonial ambition, Indigenous heritage, and European aesthetic tradition — that converged to produce a distinctly Australian artistic voice. The work presents a sweeping cultural narrative, examining how painters, sculptors, and printmakers negotiated the tension between a vast, unforgiving landscape and the imported tastes of the Old World. Smith's prose is rigorous yet accessible, grounding his arguments in close analysis of individual works while never losing sight of the broader social and political currents that shaped them. This text stands as a foundational document in Australian art history, having informed generations of curators, critics, and scholars who followed in its wake. For anyone seeking to understand not just what Australian artists made, but *why* they made it, this volume remains an indispensable and quietly revelatory guide.