Rise and Demise: The Australian Art Society 1926-1968 - Paperback

by David J. Cunneen (Author)

Rise and Demise charts the history of the little-known but long-running, Sydney-based Australian Art Society, recounted through the stories of the 49 known exhibitions held by the Society from 1927 to 1968.

Set against the backdrop of tumultuous upheaveal in the Sydney art world at the time, over 500 artists exhibited with the Society.

While most exhibitors were not to become household names, many were fine artists in their day, who contributed importantly to the Society, to Sydney's art scene and to our nation's art patrimony.

This book illuminates both the history of the Society and contributions of many of these wonderful artists.

The author's curiosity in this story began back in the 1990s, when he established and ran an art gallery in Crows Nest, Sydney. The gallery showcased twentieth century representational work by Australian artists, some well-known - such as Norman Lindsay (1879-1969) - but many lesser-known artists, who, for various reasons, had slipped from the limelight after their passing. One of the latter artists was the author's Great-grandfather, William Oates (1862-1945), a prolific and acclaimed artist during his day. However, when William Oates died in 1945, so too did his artistic legacy.

Even more curious was William Oates' deep involvement from the late 1920s to early 1940s in the formation and early running of the Australian Art Society. Over years of research the author found that, like many of its exhibitors, the Society was itself something of an enigma in the Sydney art world. Many people had heard of the Society, but few seemed to know much about it. The desire to learn more about Great-grandfather Oates soon extended into a quest to find out more about the Australian Art Society.

This book, then, is the culmination of pursuing that quest. It is about raising awareness of this little-known, Sydney-based art society. It is set against the backdrop of seismic events that shaped the global order, and Australian society, from the 1920s to late 1960s, a time when the modernist art movement emerged and successfully challenged the supremacy of traditional art around the world, Australia included.