What makes a painting endure and resonate through time? What makes a masterpiece? Highly respected art curator Barry Pearce provides a personal tour of 100 of his favourite Australian paintings from the walls and vaults of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Barry Pearce profiles works from the most famous names in Australian art, including Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin, Grace Cossington Smith, Sidney Nolan, Margaret Preston, Fred Williams, Brett Whiteley and Ben Quilty. He reveals intriguing stories behind some of Australia’s best-loved paintings and uncovers lesser-known gems along the way.

First Edition.

• 224 pages : colour illustrations ; 27 cm #260525

• Art Gallery of New South Wales — Catalogs
• Painting, Australian — Catalogs
• Painting, Australian — New South Wales — Sydney
• Australian

About the Author

Barry Pearce was curator and head of Australian art at the Art Gallery of NSW from 1978 to 2011 and is now emeritus curator at the gallery. He has written widely on Australian art including Brett Whiteley: Art and life (2004), Jeffrey Smart (2006) and Margaret Olley (2012).