Product Description
The 1939 Herald Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art was the most momentous art exhibition ever held in Australia. Over 200 works by modern masters, including Cezanne, Dali, Picasso and Modigliani, arrived in Australia on the eve of World War II and remained in the country until the end of the war. The exhibition attracted many thousands of visitors around Australia and the public greeted the opportunity to view major works by modern masters with enthusiasm. But it divided Australia's art establishment. J. S. MacDonald, director of the National Gallery of Victoria, along with many others, described the art as 'the work of degenerates and perverts'. "Degenerates and Perverts", the first definitive account of the exhibition and the events surrounding it, describes how modern art and the public taste for it developed in Australia. Richly illustrated and meticulously researched, it dispels the myths associated with the exhibition and explores the evolution of modernism in Australian art.
About the Author
Eileen Chanin is Director of Macquarie Galleries, which was established in 1925. The co-founder of Macquarie Galleries was Basil Burdett, the curator of the 1939 Herald exhibition. For over twenty years she has been active in the representation, exhibition and promotion of Australian artists. She has also assembled and developed numerous collections and many programmes engaging artists particularly in the public domain. Previous publications include Contemporary Australian Painting and Collecting Art: Masterpieces, Markets and Money. Steven Miller has worked in both public and commercial galleries and is currently employed as the Archivist of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. The Art Gallery of New South Wales is a pioneer gallery in collecting and promoting archival records from Australian artists. This book relies heavily upon these and other primary sources. Previous publications include The Sydney Camera Circle and contributions to monographs on Rosalie Gascoigne and Colin McCahon. Judith Pugh has spent her life in the arts. As a schoolgirl she helped at gallery openings, and Bill Dobell taught her to draw a duck. Married in the 1970s to the artist Clifton Pugh, she worked with the arts community and promoted the work of visual artists and writers in Australia and the United Kingdom. She has been advisor to a number of corporate art collections, has been the curator of exhibitions and owns and manages Judith Pugh Gallery.
