John Peter Russell 1858-1930

Australian engineer John Peter Russell pioneered modern art with friends Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet. In 1887 Russell painted a portrait with Japanese caligraphy and large printed Western inscriptions. He introduced Japanese-style flowering landscape patterns (like this French daffodil field) into the Western dresses of his portrait models.

Love EW 1887 Paris

Van Gogh after Hiroshige

Hiroshige carved block print 1857

Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890

Arthur Streeton

Famous for his classic Australian impressionist landscapes... Arthur Streeton also painted some Eastern-influenced 'scrolls' - this one with plum blossom. But Streeton's 'scroll' is an oil painting on a large wood panel. It includes an inner scroll of an impressionist seascape. His 'Eastern' elements combine with 'Western' academic style nudes. MODERN ART ... The exploration of East and West.

Arthur Streeton 1867-1943

Big City after Fairweather 1962

Ian Fairweather survived a 1914 battlefield frontline saturation-bombing massacre, then served years as a prisoner of war. With peace in 1918, Ian escaped British life, eventually living in China where he developed his lifetime interest in calligraphy, Chinese language and modern painting. He moved to Australia and lived a hemit-painter's life. His travel and interests included Balinese culture too.

Ian Fairweather 1891-1974

Tone '61 after Upward

Peter Upward studied Zen Buddhism: Zen's sudden release of the painter's brush stroke as insight... Zen's sudden wisdom through the clash of mystical poetic contradictions... Zen's simple minimalist asethetics... and Zen's rejection of dogma for an exploratory life of existential experiences. Peter Upward's explorations took him to Indonesia and Bali too.

Peter Upward 1932-1983

Love Alice after Whiteley 1976

Brett Whiteley explored the human form in landscapes and interiors. He continued Australian Art's tradition of weaving Asia with Europe. During the 1960s US invasion of Asia, Whiteley painted his vast 'Guernica' mural American Dream which includes Zen calligraphy for 'lightness of being.'

Brett Whiteley 1939-1992

Janganpa Jukurrpa 2017

In 1971, Aboriginal artists in Central Australia innovated and merged modern Western painting technologies supplied by mentor Geoffrey Bardon with their traditional cultural law (or Dreaming) art works and story-telling. Often modern Aboriginal paintings are ground-maps or star-maps, which, at the same time, are painted as drama scenarios or narratives. These dramatic map-scenarios usually illustrate a spoken performance of a tribal epic story that is personal to the artist and his or her totem species. This work is 'Janganpa Jukurrpa', a Possum-man epic drama by Warlpiri-language Yuendumu-community artist Steven Jupurrurla Nelson.

Steven Jukurrpa Nelson

Paintings

Artist Aaqus. Around 1987 'New York School'-trained Aaqus introduced East Asian caligraphy and 'Indonesian batik'-masking into his Australian landscape style.

Artist

Works by Hiroshige 1857 and (c) Steven Jukurrpa Nelson 2017. All other works are by Aaqus, painted after the artists in his 'History' series. (c) Aaqus all rights reserved 2022, 2020.