Australia

Art:

Visual Arts

Aboriginal Australian Art

Aboriginal people from Australia have a rich living culture stretching back at least 50,000 years. Since early 1970, aboriginal artists or from Torres Strait Islands have attracted international attention to their art and culture. The visual arts of Australia relate a different history about the country. The works reflect problems that the contemporary Australia is confronting, including environment problems, the break up with urban means and changes inside the community.

The art of the aboriginal Australian people is product of a technique connected with their life way and earth, which are represented with lines that define many shapes. They use ochre, yelow, red, black and white colors. In many works, they represent kangaroos, turtles, lizards, crocodiles, and hunters.

Contemporary Aboroginal Art

Main Painters

Albert Namatjira (1902–1959) was an Aboriginal artist from the western MacDonnell Ranges in Australia. The most famous Aboriginal artist and one of Australia's most famous artists, he was one of the pioneers of contemporary Indigenous Australian art.

Norah Simpson (5 July 1895 – 19 February 1974) was an Australian modernist painter. She began this kind of art in 1913. Her works have a strong influence of French art.

Architecture

Australian architecture has had some special adaptations to compensate for distinctive Australian climatic and cultural factors. During the 19th century, Australian architects were inspired by developments in England. The architectural styles were strongly influenced by British designs. The Australian architects were inspired by developments in England. However, buildings were remodelled due to the unique climate of Australia, and 20th-century trends reflected the increasing influence of America. From the 1930s on, North American and International influences started to appear. Many urban designs and diversifications of cultural tastes, and requirements of an increasingly multicultural society.

Main Architects

Philip Cox (born 1 October 1939)

Buildings: Sydney Olympics, Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney Football Stadium, and Flinders Park in Melbourne.

John James Clark (23 January 1838 – 25 June 1915)

The old Treasury Building in Melbourne, now the City Museum.

Clark began designing this building in 1857 when he was nineteen. Construction began in 1858 and was completed in 1862.

Melbourne City Baths

It was designed by Clark and his son Edward James in 1904.

Melbourne (Queen Victoria) Hospital pavilion.

Clark’s original design for the Queen Victoria Hospital occupied an entire block in Melbourne’s CBD. In later years the hospital was relocated and subsequently a significant portion of the building was deconstructed.