“Victors” and “victims”: Men, women, modernism and art in Australia

Jane E. Hunt, Flinders University

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Interim status: Citation only.

Hunt, J.E. (2003). “Victors” and “victims”: Men, women, modernism and art in Australia. Journal of Australian studies, 27(80), 65-75.

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© Copyright Routledge, 2003

Abstract

Extract:

It is relatively easy to misread the history of artistic modernism in Australia. Glance at a handful of key sources, and they all seem to tell the story of a battle: in the years between the two world wars the Australian art establishment was run by a band of big bad traditionalists - art historian Bernard Smith likens them to the priests of Leviticus - who were at first irritated and later seriously threatened by a bunch of critical young innovators.