Philanthropists are creating new galleries to share their private collections with the Australian public. But these gifts do not ameliorate the deficit left by declining government arts fundings.
The Impressionists were obsessed with the science of colour, which is celebrated in a new exhibition in Adelaide. At least 50 of the paintings have never previously been exhibited in Australia.
Patricia Piccinini,
Kindred 2017, Silicone, fibreglass, hair, Ed. 1 of 3, 103 x 95 x 128cm.
Courtesy the artist, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco.
Natasha Harth, QAGOMA.
Part human, part animal, Patricia Piccinini's sculptures are uncannily familiar, yet alarmingly other. A major new exhibition creates a parallel universe in which viewers can encounter her work.
Still from Human Flow, directed by Ai Weiwei.
IMDB/Amazon Studios
Artists have long tackled global issues, from war to human rights. While Picasso's celebrated Guernica may not have stopped the Spanish Civil War (or any war), art still holds value, as witness and as truth teller.
Detail from Francesco Rosselli (Italian) The Execution of Savonarola and Two Companions at Piazza della Signoria, 16th century, oil on canvas 112 x 138.5cm (framed)
Galeria Corsini, Florence
In 1497 Girolamo Savonarola burned books and art in Florence in the most infamous act of European cultural desecration. A year later, he met the same fate.
Ai Weiwei, Law of the Journey, 2017, reinforced PVC with aluminium frame, 3 x 60 x 6m.
Courtesy the artist. Photograph: Ai Weiwei Studio
The 21st Sydney Biennale is the first to be directed by a curator of non-Western heritage. While the number of artists is modest, lost quantity is made up by quality.
Today, beauty counts for little in the judgement of works of art. But our felt experience of beauty connects us with an object's maker, revealing a pure moment of humanity.
Australian artist Elizabeth Durack became infamous for her use of an Aboriginal nom de plume in 1990s. But in the 1960s, when the country was striving for independence from Australia, she portrayed Papuan women with sensitivity.
A section of Hoda Afshar, Westoxicated, from left-right, #3, #9, #5, #1, #7 (Under Western Eyes series) (2013-2014), digital prints, 105 x 92cm (each).
Courtesy the artist.
The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, woven around 1500, have been called the 'Mona Lisa of the Middle Ages'. While they make for breathtaking viewing, their threads are encoded with much meaning.
An Instagram post from Gerhard Richter’s exhibition at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.
Instagram/@gracie_yu
While it may have a reputation for narcissism, Instagram is being embraced by the art world, with Insta-friendly works and exhibitions.
Mezzo soprano Eve Klein performed two compositions while a medical laryngoscope, inserted into her throat, revealed the movement of her vocal chords.
Jesse Hunniford
How is it that contemporary painting has dug its heels in, so to speak, and refuses to look like a painting anymore?
An installation view of Country & Colony, Lady Sheila Cruthers Gallery, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, The University of Western Australia. The Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art is the only dedicated public collection of art by Australian women.
Lyle Branson
Gender bias is an ongoing problem in the visual arts. Change is needed at every level to tackle it.
In This Here. Land, a performance by Filipino and Australian artists in Sydney, the audience is asked to participate in a recreation of one of the Philippines’s drug killings.
Jade Cadeliña
Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte's 'War on Drugs' is estimated to have led to more than 13,000 killings. Artists - both in the Philippines and beyond - are helping communities work through their trauma.
The paintings in Del Kathryn Barton's new show at NGV Australia are visually stunning and painstakingly executed. But the women depicted are often de-personalised objects or headless cauldrons of destructive passion.
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn ‘Self-portrait as the apostle Paul’ 1661 (detail)
Rijksmuseum, de Bruijn-van der Leeuw Bequest, Muri, Switzerland
Rembrandt & the Dutch Golden Age, a major new exhibition, is the first of its kind to visit Sydney. The title is something of a misnomer – the centrepiece is a stunning work by Vermeer.
Poppies at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
katatrix/shuttershock.com
The wildflowers that WWI soldiers encountered in Europe become symbols of remembrance and the fragility of life. The red poppy in particular is a powerful motif in Australian war art and photography.
Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, University of Melbourne