This book is about the art-historical importance of a group of painters in AustraliaSome of these painters painting and living in Australia, some of them painting in Europe but with some connection to Australia (having been born there or lived there a short while). connected to the Impressionist movement in Europe, and in many ways establishing a eurocentric cultural capital in one of the UKs colonies. It is a shame that this is the most recent book of the set and what looks like the most heavily funded and both exhibitied and published by the largest institution in the set: The National Gallery. Deep pockets (of questionable philanthropic value) have funnelled money into this, and I'd suggest that's worth paying attention to when it's speaking about the history (art or otherwise) of a country with a government and mainstream media who regularly denyThere is ongoing denial of the genocidal violence that established the nation of Australia, this denial happens across many communities in Australia and is part of the systematic racism that underpins the nation, made startlingly explicit by 20thC legislation like the White Australia Policy.

FURTHER READINGFURTHER READING the violence with which Australia was colonised. This catalogue and exhibition received additonal financial support from Australian mining and media corporations and the philanthropic foundations↗ attached to them. These financial ties make it possible to read this as a kind of propaganda being funded by Australian media, mining and gambling money: Kerry Packer's family↗ and Kerry Stokes↗. The National Gallery is not a surprising character in this as a conservative museum of artwork that tells histories of domination and oppression, and often with limited criticality. I'd be interested to know what broader historical context is given alongside the art history in the book. The intro is written by a white Austalian cultural and environmental law academic and the essays are written by a number of Australian and UK art historians.

NOTES ON PRINT PRODUCTION

I have captured these details to gain some insight (by reading across the catalogue) of the budgets spent on the publications and of the different levels of access to print technologies. The print production choices also show traces of the design tastes and tools at the time of publication.