Australia has a reputation for a lot of things: rugby, creepy crawlies and barbecues, to name just a few. But the country is often overlooked when it comes to its contribution to 20th- and 21st-century arts and culture. However, its history within those realms is still a rich one, even if it’s not widely known.
Shortly before the turn of the 20th century, a small group of painters created one of Australia’s most important art movements. Heavily influenced by French impressionism, it offered a fresh look at Australia’s landscapes. The movement quickly became known as the Heidelberg School, coined by art critic Sidney Dickinson and named after Heidelberg on the rural outskirts of Melbourne, where the first ‘artist camps’ – groups of artists painting en plein air, or ‘in the open air’ – took place. Pioneering artists included Arthur Streeton and Walter Withers, but the camps quickly grew to include the likes of Tom Roberts, Charles Conder and Frederick McCubbin, among others. Though styles and themes differed from painter to painter, all of their works were connected by an
