| Description |
1 online resource (6 min.) |
| Series |
Australasian video online |
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Hidden treasures : inside the National Gallery of Australia |
| Summary |
When Aboriginal artist Tommy McRae died in 1901, he was a man of substance in the region of Corowa and Wahgunyah on the Murray River - known as an upright character, a teetotaller and an astute financier, selling his drawings for cash. Tommy McRae was born before his people were displaced by colonisation, and he was keen to show the newcomers his ancient culture. He drew with pen and ink on paper and sketchbooks bought at the local newsagent in Corowa, and he always began by first drawing the ground on which his figures would stand and his trees would grow. He worked up from the feet with astonishing accuracy, keeping each figure in his mind's eye as an entirety, even when clustered. There were no generalisations - each leaf or clan marking is clearly delineated - and never a misplaced line or a correction. Mickey of Ulladulla was a contemporary of Tommy McRae but we know little about him beyond the fact that he walked with the aid of two sticks. And that he always showed himself in his works wearing western clothes - a long coat and hat. He drew with pencils and watercolours, and his skill lay in his depictions of the natural world of the rich coastline of Ulladulla, south of Sydney, which was then a quiet backwater, and in the beautifully precise drawings of the animals and fish that he hunted. Both artists show the amazing adaptability of Aboriginal artists who had only recently been displaced. When these talented artists wanted to communicate with drawn images they did so with a sensitivity to detail that sets them apart |
| Notes |
Title from resource description page (viewed November 24, 2014) |
|
In English |
| Subject |
Artists, Aboriginal Australian.
|
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Artists, Aboriginal Australian.
|
| Genre/Form |
Documentary films.
|
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Documentary films.
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Documentaires.
|
| Form |
Streaming video
|
| Author |
Hughes, John.
|
|
Churcher, Betty, 1931-2015.
|
|
Film Australia (Organization)
|
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National Film and Sound Archive (Australia)
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