Asian art and Australia: 1830s-1930s

Abstract

In researching this topic, I have developed chapters on a History of Taste in Australia (as related to Asia), incorporating discussion of the late-nineteenth century art movements of Chinoiserie, Japonisme and Aestheticism (chapters 1 to 3). Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 focus on particular visual and cultural phenomena throughout Australia which are correlated to these movements, and are largely documented from primary sources. As an overview of the growth and content of Asian collections within Australia, chapter 8 presents a national view - from the founding of private colonial collections through to the establishment and development of state museum collections. The concluding chapter draws together social and cultural themes with particular emphasis on Australia's intercultural relationship with Japan. Further investigation into Asian cultural interchange with Australia from the 1930s is mandatory to extend this to the present. Although references are made to the cultures of China, Japan and Southeast Asia, for a variety of reasons it was Japan which was to play the most important role in shaping cultural exchange with Australia. Australia's geographic position, almost due south of the great land and island masses known as the 'East' induced an access with the possibility of trade, the exchange of persons, and the importation of cultural artefacts. I gratefully acknowledge select data on museum collections; specific information was provided by a numerically small, but dedicated group of curators responsible for Asian collections throughout Australia. Their assistance has been invaluable in compiling histories of the major state collections.