Bernard Smith's published writings on art extend over 50 years. In this selection of critical essays, arranged chronologically, he sets out to show how, from the study of original works he admired, he developed a pluralist critical practice based upon form and meaning. The selection also reveals how Smith related his criticism to those ethical, social and political concerns that, during his active years as a critic, have affected both artist and laity alike. Central to the fashioning of his practice have been his early opposition to proto-fascist cultural attitudes in war-time Australia and his continued resistance to values inimical in his view to the growth of a mature and independent cultural tradition in Australia, one that could be appreciated and admired by the sensitive and the well-informed, irrespective of whether they lived in Australia or anywhere else.
- ISBN10 0195530292
- ISBN13 9780195530292
- Publish Date 27 November 1989
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 9 September 2009
- Publish Country AU
- Publisher Oxford University Press Australia
- Imprint OUP Australia and New Zealand
- Format Paperback (UK Trade)
- Pages 400
- Language English