 Cover of Art in Australia No.5, December 1918 | |
| Categories | art magazine |
|---|---|
| Frequency | semi-annual 1916–1920; quarterly 1921–1930; bimonthly 1930–1933; quarterly 1934–1942. |
| Format | magazine |
| Publisher | Angus & Robertson |
| First issue | 1916 |
| Final issue | August 31, 1942 |
| Company | Art in Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| Based in | Sydney, |
| Language | English |
Art in Australia was an Australian art magazine that was published between 1916 [1] and 1942.
Art in Australia, was first issued in 1916. It was edited by Sydney Ure Smith, graphic artist and director of the advertising agency, Smith and Julius; [2] [3] Bert Stevens, who remained editor of The Lone Hand ; [4] and Charles Lloyd Jones, [1] of the David Jones emporium family; [5] and was published by Angus & Robertson in 1917–1918; Art in Australia Ltd in the years 1918–1934; and in its final decade (1934–1942) was published by the Sydney Morning Herald . [6] From 1922 Leon Gellert took over editorship from Stevens and Jones, continuing in the position with Ure Smith until both retired in 1938.
Production standards were exacting and the editors oversaw photography of art and its printed reproduction to the highest quality available. In the first series a Deluxe edition, limited to 40 copies, with 30 for sale, each contained an engraver's proof print (a reproduction) signed by the artist. [7]
Publication was semi-annual 1916–1920, quarterly 1921–1930, bimonthly 1930–1933, [8] and back to quarterly 1934–1942. [9]
It came out in four series: [10]
Incorporated in 1921, the Art in Australia company published several other magazines, including Australia: National Journal and The Home , which often balanced any shortfall by Art in Australia, which was expensive to produce, often depending on funds from Jones; and also costly to purchase, with a newsstand price of seven shillings and sixpence (1919); 12 shillings and sixpence (1920, 1927–1929); six shillings (a value of nearly A$22 in 2021) in 1921–1922; three shillings and sixpence (1930–1934); and five shillings (1934–1942), the latter equivalent to A$19 in 2021. Few artists were able to afford it. Fairfax press purchased The Home in 1934. [10]
Trained in art by Julian Ashton, and favouring members of the Society of Artists, Sydney, Ure Smith was a keen proponent of Australian art and to some extent its early modernists, though he was not sympathetic to abstraction, and his attitudes were influential on the content of Art in Australia, which sprang from his success in publishing the popular, high-quality photo-engravings by Hartland & Hyde in the J. J. Hilder Watercolourist exhibition catalogue in 1916. Fine illustrations continued to be a profuse and celebrated feature of the magazine. While his friends the Lindsays and Hans Heysen were conservative, Ure Smith encouraged progress in Australian art, supported the Contemporary Group in Sydney, the Melbourne Herald Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art (1939) and imported works by Matisse and Derain for Society of Artists exhibitions. [3] Basil Burdett, who in 1925 established Macquarie Galleries at 19 Bligh Street Sydney, was a frequent contributor and associate editor of the magazine in the mid-to-late 1920s.
Some editions of Art in Australia were specifically devoted to individual artists, [12] or had lengthy articles on featured artists. [13] [14] In addition, content was enhanced with the work of designers and illustrators, including Douglas Annand who drew for Sydney Ure Smith's publications, the Home, Art in Australia and the Australian National Journal between 1935 and 1939. [15]
Though devoted solely to the visual arts, a literary supplement to Art in Australia was proposed in 1917 and prepared during 1918, but was abandoned despite pressure from Norman Lindsay. [16] The magazine did published some poetry and fiction during the 1920s including that of Lindsay, who promoted his conservative views, and of his son, Jack, Kenneth Slessor and Hugh McCrae, and each had individual numbers devoted to their works, [17] while other contributors included Zora Cross, Dorothea Mackellar, Furnley Maurice, and Dowell O'Reilly. In 1924 Art in Australia held a short story competition, won by Katharine Susannah Prichard's The Grey Horse and though she contributed more, from the 1930s literary works were reserved for the companion magazine, The Home, a more regular publisher of prose and poetry in the Art in Australia group. [10]
Retired in 1938, Ure Smith and Gellert were replaced by Kenneth Wilkinson and Peter Bellew was appointed in 1941 for the magazine's last eighteen months. These later editors were more sympathetic toward modernist art and they published poetry, including that of Max Harris and Alister Kershaw. [10]
Art in Australia folded in August 1942.
Art in Australia was succeeded eleven years later by Art & Australia published quarterly by Sydney Ure Smith's son Sam from May 1963. It follows the high standard of reproduction of its forerunner and is still in print.
Norman Alfred William Lindsay was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his generation, Lindsay attracted both acclaim and controversy for his works, many of which infused the Australian landscape with erotic pagan elements and were deemed by his critics to be "anti-Christian, anti-social and degenerate". A vocal nationalist, he became a regular artist for The Bulletin at the height of its cultural influence, and advanced staunchly anti-modernist views as a leading writer on Australian art. When friend and literary critic Bertram Stevens argued that children like to read about fairies rather than food, Lindsay wrote and illustrated The Magic Pudding (1918), now considered a classic work of Australian children's literature.
William Beckwith McInnes was an Australian portrait painter, winner of the Archibald Prize seven times for his traditional style paintings. He was acting-director at the National Gallery of Victoria and an instructor in its art school.
Elioth Lauritz Leganyer Gruner was an Australian artist.
Sir Lionel Arthur Lindsay was an Australian artist, known for his paintings and etchings.
Harold Pierce Cazneaux was an Australian pictorialist photographer; a pioneer whose style had an indelible impact on the development of Australian photographic history. In 1916, he was a founding member of the Pictorialist Sydney Camera Circle. As a regular participator in national and international exhibitions, Cazneaux was unfaltering in his desire to contribute to the discussion about the photography of his times. He created some of the most memorable images of the early twentieth century.
Bertram William Mathyson Francis Stevens was Australian journal editor ; literary and art critic; and anthologist.
The National Gallery of Victoria Art School, associated with the National Gallery of Victoria, was a private fine arts college founded in 1867 and was Australia's leading art school of 50 years.
Olive Cotton was a pioneering Australian modernist photographer of the 1930s and 1940s working in Sydney. Cotton became a national "name" with a retrospective and touring exhibition 50 years later in 1985. A book of her life and work, published by the National Library of Australia, came out in 1995. Cotton captured her childhood friend Max Dupain from the sidelines at photoshoots, e.g. "Fashion shot, Cronulla Sandhills, circa 1937" and made several portraits of him. Dupain was Cotton's first husband.
Adrian George Feint was an Australian artist. He worked in various media, and is noted for his bookplate designs.
Sydney George Ure Smith OBE was an Australian arts publisher, artist and promoter who "did more than any other Australian to publicize Australian art at home and overseas".
Alethea Mary Proctor was an Australian painter, print maker, designer and teacher who upheld the ideas of 'taste' and 'style'.
Douglas Shenton Annand was an Australian graphic designer and artist.
Leon Maxwell Gellert was an Australian poet.
The Home was a high quality Australian quarterly magazine published in Sydney, New South Wales between 1920 and 1942. It became bimonthly from July/August 1924. Then from 1926 onwards it was published monthly until it ceased publication in September 1942.
Percy Alexander Leason was an Australian political cartoonist and artist who was a major figure in the Australian tonalist movement. As a painter and commercial artist his works span two continents.
John William Tristram was an Australian artist who painted primarily in watercolour. He commonly signed his paintings "J. W. Tristram".
Henry George "Harry" Julius was an Australian commercial artist who had a long association with Sydney Ure Smith.
Allan Holder Jordan (1898-1982) was an Australian painter, designer, printmaker and teacher.
The Australian Academy of Art was a conservative Australian government-authorised art organisation which operated for ten years between 1937 and 1946 and staged annual exhibitions. Its demise resulted from opposition by Modernist artists, especially those associated with the Contemporary Art Society, though the influence of the Academy continued into the 1960s.
Art in Australia public domain audiobook at LibriVox (various editions)