Early Artists Of Australia
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: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Good
Before photography captured the Australian landscape, a generation of pioneering artists wielded brush and pen to document a continent utterly unlike anything the Western world had ever seen. Early Artists of Australia chronicles the remarkable men and women who first translated the strange beauty of the antipodean wilderness — its towering eucalypts, vast harbour shores, and unfamiliar fauna — into enduring works of art, establishing a visual language for a nascent nation. From the convict-era sketches of Port Jackson Painter to the luminous colonial watercolours that graced the drawing rooms of Georgian England, Rex and Thea Rienits present a richly illustrated survey of Australia's foundational artistic heritage. Written with scholarly authority yet an accessible warmth, this landmark work argues that these early artists were far more than mere documentarians — they were cultural interpreters, shaping how both colonists and the wider world understood and imagined Australia. The Rienitses draw on historical records and the artworks themselves to illuminate the social and political conditions under which these images were created, revealing the ambitions, hardships, and triumphs of forgotten masters. A treasure for art historians and general readers alike, it leaves one wondering just how much of Australia's identity was quietly forged not in parliament or on the battlefield, but on canvas.
Author: Rex And Thea Rienits
Format: Hardback
Published: 1963, Angus and Robertson
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Good
Before photography captured the Australian landscape, a generation of pioneering artists wielded brush and pen to document a continent utterly unlike anything the Western world had ever seen. Early Artists of Australia chronicles the remarkable men and women who first translated the strange beauty of the antipodean wilderness — its towering eucalypts, vast harbour shores, and unfamiliar fauna — into enduring works of art, establishing a visual language for a nascent nation. From the convict-era sketches of Port Jackson Painter to the luminous colonial watercolours that graced the drawing rooms of Georgian England, Rex and Thea Rienits present a richly illustrated survey of Australia's foundational artistic heritage. Written with scholarly authority yet an accessible warmth, this landmark work argues that these early artists were far more than mere documentarians — they were cultural interpreters, shaping how both colonists and the wider world understood and imagined Australia. The Rienitses draw on historical records and the artworks themselves to illuminate the social and political conditions under which these images were created, revealing the ambitions, hardships, and triumphs of forgotten masters. A treasure for art historians and general readers alike, it leaves one wondering just how much of Australia's identity was quietly forged not in parliament or on the battlefield, but on canvas.