Art in Australia : Eleventh number.

Edited by Sydney Ure Smith & Bertram Stevens. Sydney : Art in Australia, 1921. Octavo, pictorial card wrappers (minor loss to lower spine, light sunning), unpaginated, illustrated with tipped-in colour plates, plus b/w plates, an excellent copy. Includes Essay by Lionel Lindsay on John Longstaff’s portraits; essay by Howard Ashton on Percy Lindsay’s Landscape; essay by Hugh McCrae on Joan of Arc. Illustrations by Streeton, Longstaff, Lionel Lindsay, Lambert, Percy Lindsay et al.

Art in Australia was conceived by Sydney Ure Smith as a flagship for Australian painting and graphic art, and has become the most important resource on Australian art in the first half of the twentieth century. Robert Holden writes ‘The magazine became a showcase of Australian printing ability and set new standards of advertising excellence …‘ Artistic layout, quality graphic work in colour, an harmonious choice of typography and carefully worded text were all combined …’ (Cover Up, Sydney: 1995, p. 74).

For over a quarter of a century, and through its different formats, Art in Australia reviewed and discussed all aspects of Australian art exhibited in both commercial public galleries. Its longevity as a journal was due to its modern approach to design, with many covers being icons of art deco style in themselves.