Earlier this week, just three days before the 25th anniversary of Tiananmen Square democratic movement, Chinese-Australian artist Guo Jian was taken from his Beijing home by local police. He’s currently…
Articles on Art history
Displaying 161 - 175 of 175 articles
There is currently something of a Kenneth Clark renaissance, with an exhibition devoted to him just opened at Tate Britain, and a new Civilisation planned by the BBC. If there is anything to be gained…
Nationalism is not always a good thing where understanding art is concerned, but in the case of Italian Masterpieces from Spain’s Royal Court, Museo del Prado on show at the National Gallery of Victoria…
A painting is often like theatre. There are actors, who give expression to a narrative. They are distributed across a stage floor and positioned against a scenic backdrop. The artist is both the stage…
The public response to a recent article in the Guardian on a campaign for more children to study art history at school left me thinking about what more we can do to shrug off stereotypical views of the…
Not for the first time Britain and Australia are at loggerheads over cultural heritage. At issue this time are two images of genuine historical significance to both countries: Kongouro from New Holland…
Max Dupain and Frank Hinder are among the many significant artists who contributed decisively to Australia’s modernist tradition. Less well known, however, is that they both worked for Australia’s military…
Death has a special significance in the history of art. Whenever artists die, a kind of art dies with them. Painting will survive Jeffrey Smart (1921–2013) but the kind of picture that he produced is impossible…
The contemporary art critic cannot say with certainty whether something is good or bad. What good criticism does today is to help the public “see” the artwork. It does not explain and close down meaning…
It was the 1960s when a curator – who shall remain nameless – was ordered to hang Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira’s work in his gallery. He hung the painting next to the ladies toilet with a vase of…
UPDATE: Del Kathryn Barton has won the 2013 Archibald Prize for her portrait of Hugo Weaving. This is the second time Barton has won the prize, her last winner was in 2008. The only other woman to win…
Is Tasmania at a tipping point? Over the next two weeks The Conversation, in conjunction with Griffith REVIEW and the University of Tasmania, is publishing a series of provocations. Our authors ask where…
Can the nests of some birds be regarded as works of art, as aesthetic creations worthy of our admiration? Charles Darwin wrote in The Descent of Man that some birds have “fine powers of discrimination…
An unprecedented level of media coverage made the Vietnam war a watershed moment in the discipline of photography. The images by official military photographers, photojournalists, and individual soldiers…
The impending closure of art history at La Trobe University has drawn sharp criticism from academics. They have pointed out that students enjoy art history: it is economical, has enduring value and demonstrably…
Top contributors
-
Ruth Coulter Heede Professor of Art History, Case Western Reserve University
-
Joanna Mendelssohn is a Friend of The Conversation.
Honorary Senior Fellow, School of Culture and Communication, The University of Melbourne
-
Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University
-
Professor emerita of the Social and Critical Histories of Art, University of Leeds
-
Honorary Professor, Edith Cowan University
-
Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Art & AI Lab, Rutgers University
-
Director, Gender and Women's History Research Centre, Australian Catholic University
-
PhD Candidate, Creative Writing, The University of Melbourne
-
Professor in Art, Curtin University
-
Associate Professor of Art History and Museum Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
-
Master of Art in Gallery and Museum Management Program Director, Western Colorado University
-
Assistant Professor in the School of Social Sciences, University College Dublin
-
Associate Director Student Experience, Monash University
-
Lecturer, School of Art & Design, Nottingham Trent University
-
Personal Chair of 19th-Century Art, History of Art, University of Edinburgh