Gordon Bennett

(Australia 1955– )

Title

Myth of the Western man (White man's burden)

Place of origin

Queensland → Australia

Year

1992

Media category

Painting

Materials used

synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Dimensions

175.5 x 304.3cm stretcher

Signature & date

Signed and dated u.r. verso, pencil "...1992/ G Bennett 24-12-92".

Credit

Purchased 1993

Accession number

390.1993

Copyright

Unable to display image due to copyright restrictions

Location

Not on display

Further information

1788 Colony established. Flag raised.

1796 First legally sanctioned massacre of Aboriginal people – Hawkesbury River area – troops sent from Parramatta.

1799 - First murder trial of five whites for the murder of two Aboriginal boys – found guilty but released – pardoned three years later.

1802 - Pemulwuy killed and decapitated, his head sent to England.

1803 - First colony established in Tasmania

1804 - First massacre of Aboriginal people in Tasmania, at Risdon Cove.

1813 - Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson cross the Blue Mountains into Wiradjuri land.

1824 - Massacres of Wiradjuri people.

1838 - Myall Creek massacre in northern New South Wales. First white man hung – against public opinion and in a retrial after acquitted in first trial – for the murder of Aboriginal people. This creates a climate of secrecy around further murders.

1857 - Yeeman people (near Roma, Queensland) massacred.

1861 - Largest massacre of whites by Aboriginal people in reprisal for hundreds of Aboriginal deaths, at Cullin-la-Ringo Station, Queensland by the Kairi people.

1869 - Tasmania, William Lanney – touted as the last Aboriginal male – died. His grave is looted and skeleton stolen.

1876 - Tasmania, Truganini – touted as the last Aboriginal female – died. Her skeleton is put on display (against her last wishes) in the Tasmanian Museum.

1928 - Coniston massacre in the Northern Territory, near Yuendumu. Those responsible vindicated in an official (cover up) inquiry ending 7 February 1929.

1971 - Yirrkala, Gove Peninsula, land rights thrown out of court.

1972 - Aboriginal Tent Embassy set up in Canberra. Gough Whitlam elected and Blue Poles by Jackson Pollack purchased for Australia (public outraged).

1976 - Truganini's bones cremated and her ashes dispersed in the wind.

1992 - Mabo case is won – Terra Nullius overturned.

Information provided by the artist.

Bibliography (14)

Stephen Farthing (Editor), 1001 paintings you must see before you die, London, 2007, (colour illus.).

Kelly Gellatly (Australia) (Author), Gordon Bennett, Melbourne, 2007, 48-49 (colour illus.), 127. plate nos. 19-20

Anthony Bond (England; Australia) (Commissioning Editor), Wayne Tunnicliffe (New Zealand; Australia) (Commissioning Editor), Contemporary: Art Gallery of New South Wales Contemporary Collection, 2006, 160, 161 (colour illus.).

Susan McCulloch (England; Australia, b.1949) (Author), Alan McCulloch (Australia, b.1907, d.1992) (Author), Emily McCulloch Childs (Australia, b.1976) (Author), The new McCulloch's encyclopedia of Australian art, Carlton, 2006, 41.

Pam Meecham (England) (Author), Julia Sheldon (England) (Author), Modern art: a criticial introduction, Oxon, 2005, 14-15, between pgs. 84 & 85 (colour illus.). plate no. 1

In our own image: the story of Australian art 2002, 2002, 200 (colour illus.).

Tim Jordan (United Kingdom) (Editor), Steve Pile (United Kingdom) (Editor), Social change, England, 2002, (colour illus.). plate no. 9

National Gallery of Australia (Australia, estab. 1982), Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles, Canberra, 2002, 62, 63 (colour illus.).

Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 234 (colour illus.).

Nicholas Thomas (Australia) (Author), Possessions: indigenous art / colonial culture, London, 1999, 200, 202, 204 (colour illus.), 207, 297. illus.no. 124

In our own image: the story of Australian art 1995, 1995, 204 (colour illus.).

Margo Neale (Australia) (Author), Yiribana: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collection, Sydney, 1994, 122, 123 (colour illus.), 136, 139. plate no. 60

Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 284 (colour illus.).

Lunami Art Gallery (Japan) (Author), Ross Gibson (Author), Inner-Land, Japan, 1993.

Exhibition history (8)

Recent Acquisitions of Aboriginal Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 05 Jul 1993–12 Sep 1993.

Inner Land, Lunami Art Gallery, 09 Nov 1993–27 Nov 1993.

Dreaming the Republic: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander - responses to the pending Republic, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, 28 Nov 1997–11 Jan 1998.

Another Country, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 04 Jul 1999–02 Apr 2000.

Title Deeds: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Works from the Collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 05 Jul 2000–05 Nov 2000.

Gordon Bennett, a survey, Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, 06 Sep 2007–16 Jan 2008.

Gordon Bennett, a survey, Queensland Art Gallery, 10 May 2008–03 Aug 2008.

Gordon Bennett, a survey, Art Gallery of Western Australia, 20 Dec 2008–22 Mar 2009.