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Indigenous Art Art Periods Since 1600 Movements Schools and Groups Key Events in Early Australian Art History
Indigenous Art
Indigenous Australian art can be traced back to approximately 45,000 years ago.
Some sites to view more about the history of Indigenous Australian art include:
Art Periods since 1600
Early
Exploration
1600 - 1773
1600 - 1795
Maps
Charts
Recording of Indigenous Life
Flora and Fauna
Colonialism
1778 - 1880
Colonialism 1788 -1850
Topographical
Colonialism 1850
- 1880
Romanticism
Naturalism
Realism
Nationalism & Federalism
1880 - 1920
Symbolism
Aestheticism
Impressionism
Art Nouveau
Modernism
1914 - 1940
Post Impressionism
Tonalism
Expressionism
Abstract Art
Depression & WWII
1929 - 1945
Surrealism
Social Realism
Post
Modernism
1945 - 2000
Contemporary Art
2000 -
Movements, Schools and Groups
There has been a range of movements, styles and affiliations during Australia's art history. These include:
The Heidelberg School (and Australian Impressionism)
The Heide Circle (Sunday and John Reed)
Art Nouveau
Some key events in Australia's early art history
Click on the links to see more about each event
Absalom West, emancipated convict, set up business as publisher of prints in Sydney (commencing with a series of engravings of the infant colony).
First art school established in Sydney by John William Lewin
John Lewin records the first use of oil paint in Australia in his letters
Richard Read senior, first portrait painter, opens art school in Sydney
Two lithographic presses set up at Parramatta Observatory, mainly for printing maps
Augustus Earle opens gallery in Sydney
Earle produces first lithograph - Bungaree
Thomas Bock (artist and engraver) opens business in Hobart while still assigned convict
Mechanics School of Arts opened in Sydney to promote culture
First art exhibition - held in Hobart
Wood engraving begin to be used instead of woodcuts for newspaper illustrations
Possible first lithograph by woman artist, Maria Barney, NSW
First volume of John Gould's Birds of Australia published (Elizabeth Gould major contributor to work.)
National School of Art gives its first lecture
Robin Vaughan Hood set up business as carver, gilder (picture framer), lithographer and dealer in fine arts in Hobert
276 works displayed at the public exhibition of paintings in Australia in Hobart's legislative chamber
S.T. Gill organises an Artists' Exhibition in Adelaide
Exhibition for the Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts in Australia in Sydney
School of Arts established in Brisbane
Photography first used in Australia
First art exhibition in Melbourne
Sketch Club formed in Sydney
First Art Society formed - The South Australian Society of Arts
Earliest technical art school in Australia established - South Australian School of Arts and Crafts
Art Treasures Exhibition, Hobart
National Gallery of Victoria established
National Gallery School of Art of Victoria established
Artisans' Schools of Design established in Melbourne
Melbourne Exhibition - Ornamental and Decorative Art
Sydney Intercolonial exhibition
Victorian Artists Society formed
The Academy of Art was founded - later to become AGNSW (1880)
First exhibition of colonial art, under the auspices of the Academy, held at the Chamber of Commerce,
Apsley Falls by Conrad Martens is the first work on paper by an Australian artist to be acquired by the Art Gallery of NSW - commissioned by the trustees and purchased for £50 out of the first government grant of £500.
Mount Olympus, Lake St Clair, Tasmania by WC Piguenit first oil painting by an Australian artist to be acquired by AGNSW
Sydney International exhibition
Melbourne International Exhibition
Art Society of NSW formed by Arthur and George Collingridge and other artists
Art Gallery of South Australia founded
Society of Painters in Pastel established
First regional art gallery in Australia opens at Ballarat in Victoria
Beginnings of Heidelberg group
Travelling scholarship established in Victoria - awarded to John Longstaff
Melbourne Centennial Exhibition
First Australian magazine devoted to art, Australian Art by George Collingridge
9 x 5 Impressionist Exhibition in Melbourne
Julian Ashton School of Arts/ Sydney Art School opens in Sydney 1890
Art Gallery of Western Australia opens
Queensland National Art Gallery opens
National Society of Mural Painters Established
Queensland National Art Gallery first Australian acquisition - Josephine Muntz-Adams's Care c.1893
The inaugural Wynne Prize is awarded to Walter Withers for The storm
Constance Jenkyns first woman to win travelling scholarship in Australia
Sydney Society of Women Paintersfounded
Magazine Art in Australia published by Sydney Ure Smith
The inaugural Archibald Prize is awarded to WB McInnes for Desbrowe Annear.
National Gallery of Australia in Canberra opens
- 1820
1812
1814
1820 - 40
1821
1826
1831
1833
1837
1840 - 50
1830s
1836
1840
1843
1844
1845
1847
1848
1849
1840s
1850 - 70
1853
1855?
1856
1858
1861
1867
1869
1870 - 90
1870
1870s
1872
1874
1875
1879
1880
1881
1880s
1884
1885
1887
1888
1889
1890s
1890
1895
1897
1898
1900 -
1908
1910
1916 - 42
1922
1982
Key Sources include:
Moore, William, The Story of Australian Art, Angus and Robertson, Melbourne, 1980
Australian Dictionary of Biography
National Library of Australia
Art Gallery of New South Wales
National Gallery of Victoria
National Gallery of Australia
Art Gallery of South Australia
State Library of Victoria
State Library of New South Wales
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Sydney Art School
La Trobe Journal
As the list of key events is not easy to read on a mobile device, please either use a PC or laptop, or view the pdf
If you have any questions, comments, or other key dates to add, please contact me.