Author(s): Andrew Sayers; Carol Cooper (As told to); Lin Onus (Foreword by)

RARE AND COLLECTIBLE | ART

Andrew Sayers, a curator at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, examines a considerable body of drawings produced by Aboriginal artists between 1803 and 1903. This has never before been collected or examined as a genre. Most of the works - which are reproduced generously in colourand black and white throughout the book - are retained in museums, libraries or private hands and have rarely been displayed. Often regarded as inauthentic art because of their stylistic borrowings and fluctuations, they enjoy a unique status as products of the interaction between Aboriginalsociety and the British colonisers.The largest group of drawings comes from the hands of three artists - Tommy McCrae (c1823-1901), William Barak (c1824-1903) and Ulladulla Mickey (c1820-1891) - who produced their drawings in the 1880s and 1890s. Visually these drawings are very various, but they possess many of the aestheticqualities which characterise contemporary Aboriginal art. They display intense vitality and an acute understanding of flora and fauna.Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century provides and important new angle on the resilience of Aboriginal art.

1994, First edition. A very good copy of this very scarce book in hardback format. Only marked by very light rubbing of the spine ends and light spotting of the edges. The contents are fine and unmarked. The d/w is near fine with only light sun fading on the spine. Scans available if required.