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Dawn of art : painting and sculpture of Australian Aborigines
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Dawn of art : painting and sculpture of Australian Aborigines

by Karel Kupka, A. P. Elkin, Andre Breton

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Accession 13894 ISBN — Publisher Angus & Robertson
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TAGS
Curated Derived
Art Ethnology Family and Society Folklore History Mythology Painting Philosophy Religion Sculpture Social Sciences
CONNECTIONS
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State
on_shelf
True
position_updated_at
2026-06-12 13:55
orientation
vertical
position_confidence
1.00
Details

Physical

binding_type
Hard Back
dimensions
none captured
spine_text
none captured

Metadata

Book form
LOCATION HISTORY
G:N1:14 6 Current vertical 1.00 conf
2 days, 12 hours ago
Book Location
Updated 2 days, 12 hours ago
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Identity

name→ title
Dawn of art : painting and sculpture of Australian Aborigines
vernon_id
22097
accession_no→ accession_number
13894
vernon_slug
dawn-of-art-painting-and-sculpture-of-australian-aborigines-karel-kupka-with-a-foreword-by-ap-elkin-and-a-preface-by-andre-breton

Drives Pulse state

curr_loc_status→ on_shelf
On Shelf, Storage
location_name
Zone N1/Level 1/Phrontisterion/MONA
location_reason
On Shelf
isbn_issn→ isbn (when valid)
—

Descriptive

production_date
1965
object_type
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object_status
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brief_description
"This illuminating study offers a new insight not only into the work of Australian Aborigines but into the nature and origins of art itself. The accidents of history have enabled a Stone Age culture to exist for a time side by side with modern Australian life, but its art forms, so wnderfully preserved and now enjoying a late flowering under the stimulus of interest from the outside world, must soon vanish with the beliefs and social organization from which they sprang. It is fortunate that a writer of Karel Kupka's imaginative sympathy and understanding has been able to record them for the benefit of the twentieth-century man. The author's approach is essentially that of an artist rather than of an anthropologist, but his conclusions are based on a sound knowledge of anthropological findings, as well as on that personal contact so vital to a real understanding of the Aborigines." - book jacket. Survey of Arnhem Land art (body painting, bark painting, sculpture); relation of Aboriginal art to theory of art - origin and purpose (problem of primative art); general description of Aboriginal culture, arts, social structures and cosmology; role of secrecy and the sacred; motifs and symbolism; mythology associated with paintings - account of myths by Djulwarak - Wawilak Sisters, emu and jabiru, echindna, Milky Way, Wanguri Women, dingo, culture heroes, Rainbow Snake and bat; Aboriginal culture as analogy for past societies - interpretation of cultural conservatism; cultural contact and the history of bark painting.

Subjects & people

authors→ author (initial fill only)
Andre Breton, Karel Kupka, A. P. Elkin
tags→ tags
Art, Arts, Religion, Sculpture, Painting, Graphic arts, Art, Australian, Anthropology, Art, Aboriginal Australian, Mythology, Ethnology -- Australia, Sculpture, Australian, Performance art, Arts, Modern, Symbolism, Animals, Mythical, Animals -- Mythology, Painting -- Australian, Social structure, Art, Prehistoric, Body art, Aboriginal Australians -- Social life and customs, Dreamtime (Aboriginal Australian mythology), Mythology, Aboriginal Australian, Rainbow serpent, Anthropomorphism, Bark painting
subject_people
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subject_objects
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Cover image

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