Antipodeans

The Antipodeans were a collection of Australian modernist artists known for their traditional art styles. The group’s 1959 exhibition at the Victorian Artists’ Society sought to defend figurative art—art that deliberately resembles the figures upon which the work is based—against what they perceived as the increasingly popularity abstract expressionism was gaining with critics. The group of seven artists and one historian called themselves the “Antipodeans,” both because it was a common name for people of Australia and New Zealand and because its meaning was derived from the word antipode—a term that describes places in the world that are direct opposites. The British believed Australia to be on the other side of the world from the British Islands and nicknamed the region the “antipodes” and its residents “antipodeans.” For these artists, the name had a dual meaning; first, it referred to their self-perceived identities as being against the growing critical norm, and second, it was meant to identify themselves as proud artists a world away from mainstream European art. In addition to their 1959 exhibit, the group composed the Antipodean Manifesto, which was published in the exhibition’s accompanying catalog.

Background

The group was composed of figural artists Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd, David Boyd, John Brack, Bob Dickerson, John Perceval, and Clifton Pugh. All were from Melbourne, with the exception of Dickerson, who hailed from Sydney. Noted Australian art historian and critic Bernard Smith authored the Antipodean Manifesto, which was co-signed by all seven artists.

Melbourne, which is on Australia’s southeast coast, was the unlikely site for a modernist art revolution in the 1940s. Modernism was a Western European art movement that was born out of frustration against the strict mores of the Industrial Revolution and Victorian England. Modernism sought to infuse traditional artistic styles with new perspectives that could both challenge and honor the legacy of Romanticism, which emphasized the emotional aspect of art.

Modernism reached its peak influence in the era before World War II (1939–1945). It gave way to an art style called expressionism, which began in Germany in the early twentieth century. In contrast to modernism, expressionism sought to express an emotional feeling rather than rely upon what the eye could visually understand. As a result, expressionism tended to be more shapeless and abstract than modernism. Abstract expression, in turn, was an extremist evolution of expressionism. Abstract expressionism arose from the New York School (an informal group of artists credited with bringing about the Abstract Expressionist movement) and was represented by such artists as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning. Abstract expressionists connected with the link between art and the personification of emotion of expressionism, but wanted to move it to a new level. As a result, abstract expressionists emphasized the importance of spontaneity and used brush strokes that were more evocative of feeling than real-world objects. Although the artists generally classified as members of the movement rejected the idea of being part of a movement (which they regarded as the antithesis of the spontaneity embodied in their art), their works could be readily identified by their individual brush strokes. In 1958 and 1959, the International Council at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City gathered together a collection of works from this emerging American art form. Called “The New American Painting,” it consisted of four or five major paintings by around seventeen critically hailed abstract expressionists, including Sam Francis, William Baziotes, James Brooks, Arshile Gorky, Grace Hartigan, Adolph Gottlieb, Philip Guston, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning, and Franz Kline. The exhibit was compiled at the request of European museums to the Museum of Modern Art’s International Program. The exhibit earned critical acclaim at each of its stops throughout Europe. It was against this backdrop of the dramatically shifting intent in art that the Antipodeans staged their protest.

Overview

Although art is known for its quick evolution of styles, many of the artists later connected to the Antipodean movement worried that the mass critical and public appeal of abstract expressionism threatened their own interpretations of work. They also lamented the loss of the critical skills associated with figurative artwork. They became concerned that abstract expressionism was being established by the art press as the standard by which all modern art would be defined. The Antipodeans were frustrated that Australian art criticism might begin to serve as merely a critical echo chamber for American and European abstract expressionism.

They claimed that their frustrations were born in part from their perception that Australian art would be forever stunted if it merely followed the trends of American and European “isms.” They wanted Australia to develop its own artistic identity free of the influence of passing inclinations of the West. Thus, their use of Antipodeans as an identity was meant to be a strike against another potential foreign interference with the natural development of Australian styles. They further regarded abstract expressionism as superficial and lacking the substance of figurative art.

However, the group’s efforts were regarded with various stances of ambivalence, anger, and frustration by many of their peers. Art, by nature, is subject to influence. To reject one style is to place limits on the creative expressions of another artist. Although many of the Antipodeans had links to the more avant-garde Contemporary Art Society (CAS), the majority of the CAS’s community opposed staging the Antipodeans’ show. Instead, the exhibition was held at the more conservative Victorian Artists’ Society, a fact that was not lost on many of their modernist peers. In addition, at the time of the exhibition, abstract expressionist artists in Australia were facing a limited market for their works which was in marked contrast to the financial success of many of the Antipodeans. Many artists accused the Antipodeans of being obstructionist and seeking to limit the ability of non-traditional artists to find an audience.

Ultimately, the impact of Antipodeans was limited. Several of the artists expressed misgivings about their participation in the face of the objections of their peers, and some would later reject their participation entirely, though others continued to endorse the Antipodean philosophy. Despite the general lack of support for the Antipodeans and their own concerns about the longevity of their own styles of art, each of the Antipodeans continued to enjoy successful art careers, with many of their works selling for high prices well into the artists’ old age.

Bibliography

Berryman, Jim. “The Rhetoric of the New: The Field and the Foundations of an Institutional Avant-Garde in Australia.” Journal of Australian Studies, vol. 38, no. 3, 2014, pp. 331-44, doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2014.925956. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

Blackman, Charles. The Antipodeans Revisited: Melbourne Figurative Artists of the 1950s. National Gallery of Victoria, 1976.

Clark, Deborah. "The Antipodeans: Challenge and Response in Australian Art 1955–1965." National Gallery of Art, nga.gov.au/exhibitions/the-antipodeans. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

Cuthbertson, Debbie, and Louise Bellamy. “Robert Dickerson, Founder of the Antipodean Art Movement, Dies Aged 91.” Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Oct. 2015, www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/robert-dickerson-founder-of-the-antipodean-art-movement-dies-aged-91-20151019-gkchv5.html. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

Freeland, Lucy. “Australia’s Avant-Garde Angry Penguins: From Art to Literature.” Culture Trip, 7 Feb. 2016, theculturetrip.com/pacific/australia/articles/australia-s-avant-garde-angry-penguins-from-art-to-literature. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

Green, Pauline. Antipodeans: Challenge and Response in Australian Art 1955–1965. National Gallery of Australia, 2000.

Moore, Catriona. “The Antipodeans Group.” The Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism, 5 Sept. 2016, www.rem.routledge.com/articles/the-antipodeans-group. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

Pierse, Simon. Australian Art and Artists in London, 1950-1965: An Antipodean Summer. Routledge, 2012.

Royal, Autumn. "The Antipodean Manifesto and the Preservation of Figuration in Art." Art Guide Australia, 8 Nov. 2023, artguide.com.au/the-antipodean-manifesto-and-the-preservation-of-figuration-in-art. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.

Smith, Bernard. The Antipodean Manifesto: Essays in Art and History. Oxford UP, 1976.

Walliss, Jillian. “The Antipodean Limits of a Manifesto: OMA and the Australian Countryside.” Fabrications, vol. 28, no. 1, 2018, pp. 110-12, doi.org/10.1080/10331867.2018.1410921. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.