Australia's Famous Painters

John Glover

Glover was one of the precursors of an Australian style of painting. He arrived in Tasmania from England in 1831. A talented landscape painter with a strong reputation in England (and France), Glover was never seen as an artist who 'pushed the boundaries'.

While he was initially criticised for not paying close enough attention to the 'local characteristics', he did find an individuality in his work through the new landscapes and atmosphere of Tasmania. His depiction of the Tasmanian light as bright and clear, was a departure from his European paintings and gave his paintings a true Australian quality.

His body of work made him a pioneer of landscape painting in Australia.

Tom Roberts

Roberts was the first major painter to be selected to study at London's Royal Academy of Arts in 1881. He studied impressionism in Europe and returned to Australia in 1885 and, together with McCubbin, Streeton and Condor (the Heidelberg School), dedicated himself to painting the bush.

The outback was the stuff of his paintings - Shearing the Rams and A Break Away being amongst his most famous.

Fredrick McCubbin

McCubbin became the first Australian-born white artist of significance and was probably the most impressionistic of the nationalistic group of painters. His long association with Roberts had a significant impact on his painting and he was one of the Heidelberg School's leading lights.

McCubbin's most famous work - Lost - was inspired by twelve year old Clara Crosbie who was found alive after three weeks lost in the bush near Lilydale.

Grace Cossington Smith

Cossington Smith stands at the vanguard of modernism in Australia and her painting - The Sock Knitter (1915) - is recognised as a key modernist work.

The real character of her contribution to modern painting took shape with the formation of the 'Contemporary Group' in 1926 (with Roland Wakelin and Roy de Maistre). It was many more years before appropriate recognition was given to her impressive body of work.

Margaret Preston

Margaret Preston has endured as one of the nation's most popular painters. She is most well known for her oils and prints of Australian flora and fauna.

She was heavily influenced by modernism and was one of the first artists to understand the importance of, and to be influenced by, Aboriginal art.

Preston also took a liking to print-making and producing hand decorated ceramics.

Sidney Nolan

Nolan was fixated with Australia's icons, especially the legendary bushranger, Ned Kelly. Nolan painted his first Ned Kelly series in 1947 and brought together the land, its people, history and most importantly, its mythology.

Nolan described his work as 'a confused mix of landscape, animals, and Aboriginal culture, with a kind of Bible overtone'.

Arthur Boyd

Influenced by the French post-impressionists, Boyd absorbed a range of artistic influences, including Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker and the Russian emigre, Danila Vassilieff.

Boyd's celebrated Half-caste Bride pictures were inspired by time spent in Central Australia, as well as the early surrealist paintings of Chagall.

John Olsen

Olsen's chief subject is the Australian landscape. His observations of the land's wildlife and the 'Aussie larrikin' taps into a tradition and a sense of national identity that harks back to the Heidelberg School.

Some of his greatest works include his Lake Eyre paintings and more recent works such as Golden Summer and Clarendon. His mural Salute to Five Bells is exhibited at the Sydney Opera House.

Brett Whiteley

The best example of this eclecticism can be seen in the work of Brett Whiteley who drew on a wide range of cultures and influences.

He was seen as one of the leading lights of the avant-garde art movement. His brilliant Alchemy depicted life's journey, from birth to death, and the ultimate transmutation. In 1977 he became the only Australian artist ever to claim the Archibald, Sulman and Wynne art prizes - a unique treble.

Richard Larter

Widely regarded as the 'grandfather' of Pop art in Australia, Larter has used different mediums throughout his career to portray his work.

Larter's main theme in his work was the sexuality of the human figure, particularly women. His adaptation of the hypodermic syringe was his 'painter's pen'. By varying the finger pressure on the plunger, Larter believed he had more control over his works 'than Jackson Pollock pouring paint from holes in cans and flipping drip sticks'.

Michael Johnson

One of a new generation of abstractionists, Johnson uses shaped canvasses and broad masses of flat, uninterrupted colour. Rectangular forms provide the structural component of his work and there is a three-dimensional element to many of his works.

Lindy Lee

Lindy Lee is one of Australia's foremost contemporary artists. She became known in the 1980s with paintings based on images from the past (e.g. El Grecho, Rembrandt, Delacroix).

Her technique of scraping back the black oil and wax she applied to the surface of her paintings to reveal an underlying image, gave her works an almost ghostly 'foggy' feel. (The Encyclopaedia of Australian Art 1994).

Wonders of Australia

Kakadu National Park

Kakadu is the premier national park in Australia and offers some of the most stunning displays of wildlife you can find on the continent. Saltwater crocodiles can be found all over the park, as well as kangaroos and wallabies. In addition to stunning rock outcrops and wildlife, Kakadu some of the oldest aboriginal artwork in Australia. Many of the rock drawings date back over 20,000 years. Kakadu was location for many of the scenes from the movie Crocodile Dundee.

Uluru/Kata Tjuta

Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) is probably the best known natural icon in Australia, and no list of the Seven Wonders of Australia could be complete without it. The iron content in the rock makes its colors change through the course of a day from bright to dark red. Sacred to the local aboriginal Pitjantjatjara people, it is also of great cultural significance as well as natural significance. Often overlooked, nearby Kata Tjuta is actually higher than Uluru, but has been eroded into several pieces.

Sydney Harbor

What says “Australia” more than Sydney harbor? Maybe a kangaroo holding a boomerang and beer in the outback, but that’s about it. The center of Australia’s largest city, Sydney Harbor is home to the Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. You can take a ferry across the harbor, walk across the top of the Harbor Bridge, have tea in the Opera House, and take a stroll in the nearby Royal Botanical Gardens.

Bungle Bungles/Purnululu National Park

Had this list been created 30 years ago, the Bungle Bungles might not have been listed. Having come to the world’s attention only in the mid-1980′s, the bee hive domes of the Bungles make Purnululu National Park the premier attraction in the Kimberly region of Western Australia. Difficult to get to, what makes the Bungles fascinating are the unique erosional features which are unlike anything else in the world.

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is so big, the scope of it can really only be appreciated from the air, or even better, from orbit. By far the largest coral reef system in the world, the Great Barrier Reef extends over 2,600km (1,600mi), almost the entire length of the coast of Queensland. It is usually on any short list of the natural wonders of the world. There are plenty of places you can experience the reef, the most common of which are Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands.

Giant Eucalyptus Trees of Tasmania

Tasmania is the most unspoiled wilderness in Australia. In addition to its pristine beauty, it is home to many unique species of plant and animal including the threatened Tasmanian Devil. The most dramatic of all the things in Tasmania is the Eucalyptus Regnans, the giant eucalyptus tree. Also known as the Swamp Gum, Mountain Ash or Tasmanian Oak, it is the largest flowering plant and hardwood tree in the world and is second only to the redwood tree in height.

The Great Ocean Road

One of the greatest drives in the world is the Great Ocean Road on the southern coast of Victoria. Carved by thousands of years of battering by the Great Southern Ocean, the sandstone formations of the Great Ocean Road are truly stunning. The Twelve Apostles, London Bridge, Lord Ard Gorge are just some of the significant erosional features which can be seen on the drive near the town of Port Campbell.

Iconic Australians

AB ‘Banjo’ Paterson (1864–1941) was a poet and journalist who produced perhaps two of the best known pieces of Australian writing—the ballad Waltzing Matilda (which many Australians still regard as an unofficial Australian anthem) and the poem The Man from Snowy River. Paterson was a partner in a Sydney firm of solicitors when he started publishing verse in the Bulletin and the Sydney Mail under the pseudonyms ‘B’ and ‘The Banjo’. His first book, The Man from Snowy River and other verses, was published in 1895 and sold out within a week. Four editions were published in six months. By 1902, Paterson had left the legal profession to become a full-time journalist and writer. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1939. His portrait appears on the Australian $10 note.

Errol Flynn (1909–59) is one of Australia’s best known actors, with his off-screen adventures attracting at least as much attention as his film career. After a rebellious childhood and somewhat fragmented schooling, he moved to Papua New Guinea, where he trained as a district officer and also tried his hand as the overseer of a copra plantation, partner in a charter schooner business, gold prospector, sailor and manager of a tobacco plantation. Flynn was chosen by Australian film maker Charles Chauvel to play Fletcher Christian in the 1933 film In the Wake of the Bounty. He then worked as an actor in London before relocating to Hollywood, where he made an immediate impact as the swashbuckling Captain Blood (1935). Flynn appeared in some of the biggest action and adventure movies of his day.

Sir Donald Bradman (1908–2001) is arguably the greatest cricketer of all time. During a period spanning 21 years (1928–48) Sir Donald represented Australia, playing 52 Test matches and scoring a total of 6996 runs— with a batting average of 99.94. This was almost double that of his nearest rivals. Sir Donald, who was born in Cootamundra in New South Wales, rose to acclaim during a period of hardship, depression and recovery, and his heroic exploits on the cricket pitch raised the spirits of many Australians during the tough years of the Great Depression. Sir Donald was knighted on his retirement and was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1976. In 2000, he was named as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the 20th Century.

Ned Kelly (1855–80) is Australia’s most famous bushranger. He is regarded by many Australians as a folk hero for his rebellious defiance of colonial authorities. Kelly, in his home-made metal armour and helmet, has been memorialised in paintings, books, music and films. He was born in 1855 near Melbourne to an Irish-Catholic couple (his father was an ex-convict). As a young man, Kelly clashed with police. He was declared an outlaw and was captured after a violent confrontation with police at Glenrowan. He was executed by hanging at Melbourne Gaol in 1880.

Dame Nellie Melba (1861–1931) achieved international recognition in her lifetime as a ‘super star’ soprano and enjoyed an unrivalled popularity and status in Australia. She made her operatic debut in Brussels in 1887 as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto and went on to sing to great acclaim in London, Paris, Milan, New York and other major cities. She later became prima donna at London’s Covent Garden. In 1902, Melba had a triumphant home coming, giving concerts in all Australian states. During World War I, she worked tirelessly to raise funds for war charities and gave wartime concerts in North America. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1918 and her portrait appears on the Australian $100 note.