Degenerates and Perverts
The 1939 Herald Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art
The 1939 Herald Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art was the most momentous art exhibition ever held in Australia.
Opinion
'(Degenerates and Perverts) must rate as one of the most valuable contributions to Australian cultural history in recent times. . .it is thoroughly researched and beautifully presented. And it tells an extraordinary story.'
(Sebastian Smee, The Australian, 4 March 2005)
"This is absolutely invaluable for anyone working in the area of Australian modernist art and many existing accounts of Australian art will now have to be corrected and rewritten."
(Sasha Grishin (Professor of Art History at ANU), The Canberra Times, 16/4/05)
About this Title
The 1939 Herald Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art was the most momentous art exhibition ever held in Australia. More than 200 works by modern masters, including Cézanne, Dalì, Picasso and Modigliani, arrived in Australia on the eve of World War II and remained in the country until the end of the war.
The exhibition attracted many thousands of visitors around Australia and the public greeted the opportunity to view major works by modern masters with enthusiasm. But it divided Australia's art establishment. J. S. MacDonald, director of the National Gallery of Victoria, along with many others, described the art as 'the work of degenerates and perverts'. Public galleries also declined the opportunity to acquire much-needed key works for their collections.
Degenerates and Perverts, the first definitive account of the exhibition and the events surrounding it, describes how modern art and the public taste for it developed in Australia. Richly illustrated and meticulously researched, it dispels the myths associated with the exhibition and explores the evolution of modernism in Australian art.
About the Author
Eileen Chanin is the Director of Macquarie Galleries, which was co-founded in 1925 by Basil Burdett, the curator of the 1939 Herald exhibition. She has been active in the representation, exhibition and promotion of Australian artists for over twenty years. Her books include Contemporary Australian Painting and Collecting Art: Masterpieces, Markets and Money.
Steven Miller is Archivist of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. He has worked in both public and commercial galleries and contributed to monographs on Rosalie Gascoigne and Colin McCahon. He co-authored The Art and Life of Weaver Hawkins (with Eileen Chanin). His other publications include The Sydney Camera Circle.
Judith Pugh owns and manages Judith Pugh Gallery. She has worked with the arts community -- visual artists, writers and performers -- throughout her life. She was advisor to the ICI collection and other corporate collections and general manager of Music Theatre Sydney. Her writing includes journalism, the lyrics for Philip Nunn's Angel Songs and a children's book, Wombalong.
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