The reason for Giorgio de Chirico’s partial eclipse -- we hear much less of him than of that human loudspeaker Picasso -- is obvious. As one of the first and most notable of the avant-garde to advocate the craftsmanship of painting, he was derided for the sin of re-embracing the most important Classical and Baroque traditions

A recent visit to Toowoomba, after an absence of some […]

Social, political and cultural outlooks have undergone major shifts since the Sixties' coffee-table books extolling our 'vast mineral and agricultural resources' and 'laid-back lifestyle'. However, these may be just changes in the externals. A truly fundamental change beyond a general relaxation of social mores remains debatable

John Russell: Australia’s French Impressionist edited by Wayne Tunnicliffe Thames […]

A man of grace, decorum and soundness, Sir Owen Dixon’s contribution to the activities of the Felton Bequests Committee remains an example of the important voluntary work a jurist possessing a classically equipped mind can perform on behalf of both the public and beauty

Kenneth Clark: Life, Art and Civilisation by James Stourton Knopf, […]

Entirely overlooked by the Hollywood scriptwriters whose recent movie hailed the military unit  that saved great works of art from Europe's rubble in the dying days of the World War II, Tom Dunbabin and John McDonnell deserve not merely to to be remembered but celebrated

Villa Valmarana ai Nani has been one of the major attractions at Vicenza in the Veneto region of northern Italy since 1757, its enduring appeal owing everything to the remarkable frescoes whose popularity has survived war, the vagaries of fashion and partisan critique

Lucilla Wyborn d’Abrera's magnificent "Constance Stokes: Art & Life" is a book to be treasured -- a just tribute to an oft-overlooked artist of the front rank. As one of our leading Modernists, she should never be forgotten