Artist Patricia Piccinini on nature, nurture and the inspiration behind creating a skywhale family.

Wonder is such a positive emotion. It combines delight, discovery and gratefulness. For me, the place where I find wonder is in nature. I am inspired by the way that nature has found a way to live in every part of our planet, and the way that every lifeform is perfectly adapted to its unique role. Life itself and its myriad forms are truly wondrous to me.

When I am asked what the Skywhale is about I always return to the idea of wonder. I conceived…

Kelli Cole revisits the work of Anmatyerre woman Emily Kame Kngwarreye in the national collection.

“Mer Alhalkerel, ikwerel inngart. Kel akely anem apetyarr-alpek Utopia station-warl. Mern arlkwerremel akeng-akeng mwantyel itnyerremel, lyarnayt tyerrerretyart, tyap lyarnayt. Mern angwenh, ker kaperl arlkwerrek, ilpangkwer atwerrerl-anemel netyepeyel arlkwerrerl…Mam atyenhel mern anatyarl itnyerremel, anaty itnyerremel, anaty, amern akeng-akeng lyarnayt, tyap alhankerarl utnherrerl-anem, arlkwerrerl-anemel. Ikwerel anerl-anemel, arlkwerrerl-anemel. Mern anaty mam atyenhel itnyerlenty-akngerleng artnepartnerleng, akely-akely akenh artnelh-artnelh-ilerrerleng mernek. Mern akely akelyek. Kel alperliwerl-alhemel mer-warl, mern ampernerrerl-anemel, atnwelarr ampernerrety-alpem…Tent anetyakenhel, antywa arterretyart, antywer renh arterrerl-anemel, kel alelthipelthipek arterl-anem kwaty akenh atnyepatnyerleng. Arrwekeleny ra. Long time kwa.”

“I was born…

A house in France brought different inspirations to Joan Mitchell and Claude Monet, writes David Greenhalgh.

There is a house known as La Tour on the outskirts of the small, picturesque French village of Vétheuil that has been home to two very different artists: French Impressionist Claude Monet and American Abstract Expressionist Joan Mitchell.

When Monet lived there in 1878 he would carry his paints and easel into the surrounding fields to capture the view towards the town cathedral. …

Ahead of the March 2021 opening of ‘Botticelli to van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London’, Nick Mitzevich shares his highlights from the exhibition.

1. Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers

Like many people, Vincent van Gogh was my entry into art, and to have one of his most famous and loved paintings hanging on the wall at the National Gallery in Canberra is a dream come true.

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”
― Vincent van Gogh

Artist Yvette Coppersmith reflects on the art of the portrait through the female gaze.

There are issues of greater concern than painting – the imminent danger of climate change, with a detour of a pandemic. But we rely on images to understand ourselves, and to see where we have come from.

Historically, those who had power to make images have been predominantly white and male. When women made images, they entered an established language and found ways to position themselves within that realm. Increasingly, in the second half of the 20th century, those ways and conventions have been subverted and…

Simeran Maxwell examines the National Gallery’s Francis Bacon painting ‘Triptych’ 1970, an early acquisition for the Gallery.

British artist Francis Bacon was famous for his raw, dark and often violent canvases. By appropriating classical art and myths, and later other favourite literary sources, he presents a polarising view of the twentieth century. His works capture the dualities of life and death and beauty and ugliness as well as notions of civilisation and barbarism. During the 1970s, Bacon undertook a group of important large figurative paintings. These tripart canvases, a format he adopted early in the 1940s, demonstrate his interest in…

Mentoring and Buddhism have played a large part in the friendship between artists Lindy Lee and Nell, writes Georgina Safe.

When Nell met Lindy Lee almost three decades ago, the aspiring artist was heartened, to say the least.

“What really smashed my world was that Lindy was so fit, healthy and clean and clear minded,” says Nell. “She didn’t have that clichéd artist vibe about drinking, smoking and going to the pub. She went for power walks at lunch time and swam a lot. …

Chinese contemporary artist XU ZHEN® brings us into his studio and we discover how space influences his inspiration and creative process.

In 2000, I joined a not-for-profit art centre with other artists in Shanghai called BizArt. We worked as a team to create exhibitions and events. At the time, the whole art scene was quite underground in terms of ideology. But as the economy and the art market grew over that decade, we began to realise the importance of the commercial aspect of artmaking. So, in 2009 we created MadeIn Company.

As the company developed, we realised that having different…