Australian Art History and Sitemap

Australian art is a broad spectrum of art created in or about Australia, or by Australians overseas, spanning from prehistoric times to the present day.

The art forms include, but are not limited to, Aboriginal, Colonial, Landscape, Atelier and Contemporary art.

The visual arts in Australia have a rich and extensive history, with Aboriginal art dating back at least 30,000 years.

Gil Bruvel, 1959 ~ Visionary painter

Carolyn Biggio, 1958 | Still life painter

Born in Columbus, Ohio in 1958, Carolyn Biggio grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her formal schooling earned her a Bachelor of Sciences degree; but she later took up studies in art with Henry Hensche at the Cape School of Art. Other classes with his followers deepened her commitment, and her career path shifted to painting. Ms. Biggio's paintings are pure light and color, primarily of still life. The thick impasto paint is laid on with a palette knife to create intense masses of color; shadows are equally vibrant, creating dimension with brilliant shifts in hue and value, rather than just local color. Ms. Biggio has exhibited her work nationally, receiving numerous awards.

Edward Hopper: "More of me comes out when I improvise"

• "What I wanted to do was to paint sunlight on the side of a house".

• "After all, we are not French and never can be, and any attempt to be so is to deny our inheritance and to try to impose upon ourselves a character that can be nothing but a veneer upon the surface".

Albena Vatcheva, 1967 | Fantasy painter

Albena Vatcheva is an French artist of Bulgarian origin who advances in a spectacular way.

Her painting has inherited various traditions, including that of masters of the icon.

Using different oriental sources, she has created a world of troubling fairy, which is a real fascination for the eye, as her glowing colors create magic.

Tender, loving, her characters live in a world of peace, harmony and mutual consolation.

Ryo Shiotani / 塩谷 亮, 1975 | Figurative painter

"I paint realist paintings because I can make new discoveries as I thoroughly look at my subject. That is enjoyable".

Award winning Japanese painter Ryo Shiotani 塩谷 亮 was born in Tokyo.

After graduating from Musashino Art University, Ryo Shiotani spent one year studying in Florence on an Agency for Cultural Affairs scholarship, where he had a chance to copy the works of Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo da Vinci | A treatise on painting

Science of painting

Leonardo’s advocacy of a science of painting is best displayed in his notebook writings under the general heading “On Painting”.

The notebooks provide evidence that, among many projects he planned, he intended to write a treatise discussing painting.

After inheriting Leonardo’s vast manuscript legacy in 1519, it is believed that, sometime before 1542, Melzi extracted passages from them and organized them into the Trattato della pittura [In italian] ➤ (“Treatise on Painting”) that is attributed to Leonardo.

Leonardo da Vinci | Dell'obbligo che ha la scultura col lume, e non la pittura

Trattato della Pittura

Parte prima | Capitolo 38

Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura | Testo Integrale

Se la scultura avrà il lume di sotto parrà cosa mostruosa e strana; questo non accade alla pittura, che tutte le parti porta con sé.

Leonardo da Vinci | Dell'orizzonte

Trattato della Pittura - Parte ottava | Capitoli 235-258

Il Testo Integrale

Indice

927. Qual sia il vero sito dell'orizzonte.

928. Dell'orizzonte.

929. Del vero orizzonte.

930. Dell'orizzonte.

931. Dell'orizzonte.

932. Se l'occhio che vede l'orizzonte marittimo, stando co' piedi alla pelle di esso mare, vede esso orizzonte più basso di sé.

933. Dell'orizzonte specchiato nell'acqua corrente.

934. Dove l'orizzonte si specchia nell'onda.

935. Perché l'aria grossa vicina all'orizzonte si fa rossa.