This unprecedented book charts the development of Australian art since 1800, from early Aboriginal paintings and the work of the first colonial settlers to contemporary artists whose work reflects their culturally diverse influences. The book celebrates key moments in the Australian canon and showcases more recent artists such as Tracey Moffatt, Fiona Hall, and Vernon Ah Kee, who have emerged and established a highly original native art scene. Because the art of this continent is indelibly linked to its epic landscape, this book focuses especially on this complex and evolving alliance, illustrating in some 200 paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, and film and video stills the distinctive Australian terrain, and examining the ways in which Australian artists have sought to negotiate their identities in relation to the extremes of their land.
