Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles is one of Australia’s most famous cultural acquisitions. When Mike Parr lay supine before it, streaked with his own blood, he offered a new way of looking at the act of painting.
Works like “Elegy” are ciphers for what it means to be human and vulnerable within a social and political regime in which not all bodies are considered equal
It took cutting edge technology and a collaboration between the Australian Synchrotron and the CSIRO to reveal the mysterious hidden lady in Degas’s famous painting.
This year’s Archibald Prize winner is a painting with great affection for its subject. Louise Hearman’s Barry was a surprise choice – but it deserves to find an ultimate home in the National Portrait Gallery.
Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori began painting in her 80s, and over ten years created an extraordinary body of work. Her paintings are more like music and dance – depicting the stories of the Kaiadilt people for the first time.
The Mexican artist Frida Kahlo kept monkeys as pets and painted them often. They symbolised the children she couldn’t have and were worshipped as gods of fertility in Aztec times.
The conviction of two men in relation to the sale of forged Brett Whiteley paintings indicates that Australia needs to get its act together when it comes to authenticating artworks.
Whistler’s Mother, which arrives in Melbourne on March 25, is one of the most famous portraits in the world. But James Whistler never wanted the sitter’s identity known.
Guy Grey-Smith’s painting showcases the insistent rhythms of the indigenous vegetation and the rolling, flowing movements that take our eye meandering across the landscape and back towards the horizon.
The best forgers don’t simply create convincing fakes; they go after the preconceived beliefs of the very people who judge a painting’s value and authenticity.
Is the National Gallery of Australia’s exhibition of Tom Roberts’ really ‘for all Australians’? A recent national survey finds a racial divide in Australian art appreciation.
Formlings are representations of flying termites and their underground nests. They are associated with botantical subjects considered by the San to have great spiritual significance.
Artist Mike Parr’s career might be best described as a series of alarming acts - he’s cut his legs with a scalpel and used his blood as paint. His latest act is erase his work by painting it white.
Honorary (Senior Fellow) School of Culture and Communication University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, The University of Melbourne