Antipodean Perspective

BernardSmith (19162011) was unquestionably one of Australia's greatest humanistscholars and its finest art historian. His EuropeanVision and the South Pacific, 17681850 (1960) was a foundationaltext of post-colonialism, and in AustralianPainting (1962) he set out the definitive history of Australian artto that time. Antipodean Perspective: TheSelected Writings of Bernard Smith presents twenty-six arthistorians, curators, artists and critics, from Australia and overseas, whohave chosen a text from Smith's work and sought to explain its personal andbroad significance. Their selections reveal Smith's extraordinary range as ascholar, his profound grasp of this nation's past, and the way his ideas havemaintained their relevance as we face our future.