THE ABBEY ART CENTRE
'Reassessing postwar Australian art 1946-56'

ARC DISCOVERY PROJECT 2020-23

Tithe barn, Abbey Art Centre (c. 1999). Photo: unknown photographer, National Library of Australia, Bernard Smith papers.

In fully documenting Australian artists who worked at the Abbey Arts Centre, London, 1946-56, and the British and European avant-garde in which they mixed, this 2020-2023 ARC-funded Discovery Project throws light on this historically neglected art colony and recasts conventional understandings of post-WW2 Australian artists’ role in the European postwar period.

At a time when this period is being extensively revised within a postcolonial frame, this project is a timely contribution to current art historiography that will add significance to Australian art, especially within global institutional contexts. Outcomes include a state gallery exhibition, monograph and catalogue for retail, and potential additions of artworks and archives to national collections.