NGA unveils most controversial purchase since Blue Poles in 1973
The National Gallery of Australia’s most expensive commission – a $14m sculpture by Lindy Lee of a self-eating serpent – has been unveiled in the forecourt of the Canberra institution.
Visual Arts
Our critic’s verdict: $14m is an absurd price for a work of debatable value by an artist of modest standing
Lindy Lee’s Ouroboros is an example of the incompetent management of our National Gallery and of the weak and ineffectual oversight of the Council. Both should be replaced if the decline of the NGA is to be reversed.
Impressionist masterpieces heading Down Under
Works by artists including Monet, Renoir and Degas will travel from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston to the National Gallery of Victoria in what will be one of the largest and most significant collections of French Impressionism ever exhibited here.
‘This sends the message to green activists that criminal acts should be celebrated rather than condemned’
What do you call a Woodside-hating radical’s spray paint job over one of the nation’s greatest paintings by Frederick McCubbin? Vandalism? Criminal damage? The Western Australian Museum calls it history.
10 must-see cultural landmarks: The world’s best new museums from Bali to Norway
Focused on everything from Balinese astrology to Shakespearean performance, these museums are as diverse as they are innovative.
‘His objective was to disturb, to provoke’: Magritte unmasked in ground-breaking retrospective
The Beatles and Steve Jobs loved his art so much they ended up in court over it. Now, The Art Gallery of NSW unveils the first Australian in-depth exhibition dedicated to this surrealist master.
What you didn’t know about the Roman empire
This remarkable exhibition deals with an aspect of Roman culture that is relatively unfamiliar to most people.
Anti-Israel artist quits NGA after outrage over ‘holocaust’ slur
Tony Burke has remained tight-lipped after he advised the National Gallery the artist he appointed had resigned after calling out the state of Israel for committing ‘genocide’ in Gaza.
An artist retreats: Tony Clark, his tin shed, and a life’s work
What led this painter to brush off the urbane art world and seek solace among the crocs in remote Far North Queensland?
How Australian artists found creative and sexual liberation abroad
For Australian expat painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Paris was a liberal city where they could escape the ‘stuffy moralism’ of England.
It’s a seahorse love story
They form long-term monogamous relationships, and it’s the male that gets pregnant. But the most endearing thing about White’s Seahorses, according to a leading researcher? They fall in love.
Journey into light and deep time
Lloyd Rees was ignored for most of his career. Now, the painter’s Tasmanian landscapes are on show in this fine exhibition.
Glass of their own: Chihuly creations blossom in Adelaide
The glass artist’s exhibition includes Glacier Ice and Lapis Chandelier, one of two new artworks created specifically for the South Australian display.
In these turbulent times, Surrealism is once again making sense
From Kate Winslet’s new Lee Miller biopic to blockbuster exhibitions, why this avant-garde spirit is back, relevant and even hip.
Exposing the art of artifice
Hiroshi Sugimoto’s painstaking photography challenges us by experimenting with the dimensions of time and space.
The stars at your feet
The famous Sky Mirror effect really turned on at Lake Tyrrell when Rob Embury visited… have you ever seen a photograph quite like this?
Investing in an art collection? Avoid these mistakes
Don’t fall victim to purchasing a pricey piece you’ll soon regret. Here’s your guide to the art of buying art.
Lensman launched iconic model Twiggy
Barry Lategan’s 1966 photo shoot with a 16-year-old who would become known as Twiggy produced an image that defined an era.
Brown’s crusade to put Australia’s first diva on a pedestal
You’ve probably never heard of her, but Amy Sherwin was Australia’s first diva, paving the way for Nellie Melba. The Weekend Australian can provide first glimpse of a long-overdue art work that will finally honour ‘the nightingale of Tasmania’.
When the time seems rite for renewal
Paris-based artist Angelica Mesiti’s seven-channel video and sound installation is centred around the idea of seasonal renewal in a changing world.
Gallery takes First Nations art to world
More than 200 key works by about 130 First Nations artists from the National Gallery of Victoria’s collection will be showcased in a ‘landmark’ exhibition in Washington next year.
Beatles, Bowie and a ‘pop’ star
Pop artist Derek Boshier’s Special K paintings mused on the Americanisation of UK culture and prefigured Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup pictures.
Google before going to this ancient Egypt exhibition
The third significant Australian display of art from the time of the pharaohs is impressive but overdesigned and often visually confusing.
‘Resolution only occurs from conversations that create understanding’
His large-scale, film-based artworks are held in collections around the world. So what does Isaac Julien have to say about museums showing ‘stolen’ art and artefacts?
Dumped SMH veteran critic unleashes on Nine editor
The Sydney Morning Herald’s art critic John McDonald has been dropped after 41 years of writing for the masthead and accused the newspaper of taking a ‘soft’, ‘supine’ and ‘silly’ approach to arts coverage.
‘People feel entitled to the idea of you’: Julia Gutman faces her critics
The Archibald Prize-winner is speaking her mind ahead of her first solo institution exhibition since her history-making win.
Gallery’s Hamas symbol art ‘is legitimising terror group’
A Melbourne art gallery has been condemned by political, Jewish and security leaders alike after displaying a huge inverted red triangle made popular by Hamas to mark targets for killing.
A gift that keeps on giving
The collection of 154 pieces of art given by Melbourne art dealer Joseph Brown to the National Gallery of Victoria reveals a taste that was open and even eclectic.
Wilde ballet will challenge audiences
The Australian Ballet is breaking new ground with Oscar, a ballet about the flamboyant life and romantic loves of Oscar Wilde.
Beyond the cliche of the flawed genius
For all his personal and creative faults, artist Paul Gauguin remains a focus of attention.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/visual-arts/page/4