The Legacies of Bernard Smith

It has been widely asserted that Bernard Smith established the discipline of art history in Australia. He was the founding professor of contemporary art and the director of the Power Institute at the University of Sydney, published the classic art text Australian Painting, three volumes on the art of Captain Cook’s voyages, and two memoirs. This publication brings together international academics from a range of disciplines to focus on everything Bernard Smith left his mark on: Antipodean and European ‘envisioning’ of the Pacific, the definition of Australian art, gallery scholarship and public art education, museological practice, art criticism, Australian art biography and local heritage.

Jaynie Anderson was foundation director of the Australian Institute of Art History at the University of Melbourne (2009–15) and Herald Chair of Fine Arts (1997–2014). Christopher R. Marshall is senior lecturer in art history and museum studies at the University of Melbourne. His publications include Sculpture and the Museum and Baroque Naples and the Industry of Painting. Andrew Yip is an art historian, producer and researcher, whose interests range from the politics of Australian artists at war to digital approaches to preserving intangible cultural heritage. Contributors: Andrew Sayers, Robert W. Gaston, Nicholas Thomas, Rudiger Joppien, Kathleen Davidson, Terry Smith, Peter Beilharz, Catherine Speck, Paul Giles, Simon Pierse, John Clark, Steven Miller, Joanna Mendelssohn, Jim Berryman, Ann Stephen, Max Solling, Kate Challis, Sheridan Palmer, Catherine De Lorenzo, and Ian McLean.