Collection
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art
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Title
Myth of the Western man (White man's burden)
1992
Artist
Gordon Bennett
Australia
1955 - 03 Jun 2014
About
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.
© Australian Art Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2006
Details
Date
1992
Materials used
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Dimensions
175.5 x 304.3 cm stretcher
Signature & date
Signed and dated u.r. verso, pencil "...1992/ G Bennett 24-12-92".
Credit
Purchased 1993
Location
Not on display
Accession number
390.1993
URL / Share
Gordon Bennett
Myth of the Western man (White man's burden)
Place
Where the work was made
Queensland
Shown in 7 exhibitions
Exhibition history
Recent Acquisitions of Aboriginal Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 05 Jul 1993–12 Sep 1993
Inner Land, Lunami Art Gallery, Japan, 09 Nov 1993–27 Nov 1993
Dreaming the Republic: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander - responses to the pending Republic, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, 28 Nov 1997–11 Jan 1998
Another Country, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Jul 1999–02 Apr 2000
Title Deeds: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Works from the Collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 05 Jul 2000–05 Nov 2000
Gordon Bennett, a survey:
- Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne 06 Sep 2007–16 Jan 2008
- Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane 10 May 2008–03 Aug 2008
- Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth 20 Dec 2008–22 Mar 2009
Our Land, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 21 Jan 2017–18 Jun 2017
Referenced in 14 publications
Bibliography
Anthony Bond and Victoria Lynn, AGNSW Collections, 'Contemporary Practice - Here, There, Everywhere ...', pg. 229-285, Sydney, 1994, 284 (colour illus.).
Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian Collection: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art', pg. 208-241, Sydney, 1999, 234 (colour illus.).
Terry Smith, Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles, 'Putting painting at stake: Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles', pg.55-73, Canberra, 2002, 62, 63 (colour illus.).
Wayne Tunnicliffe, Contemporary: Art Gallery of New South Wales Contemporary Collection, 'Cultural memory, critical distance', pg.154-203, Sydney, 2006, 160, 161 (colour illus.).
Donald Williams, In our own image: the story of Australian art, Sydney, 2002, 200 (colour illus.).
Social change, England, 2002, (colour illus.). plate no. 9
Nicholas Thomas, Possessions: indigenous art / colonial culture, 'Hierarchies: from traditional to contemporary', pg. 196-223, London, 1999, 200, 202, 204 (colour illus.), 207, 297. illus.no. 124
Donald Williams, In our own image: the story of Australian art, Sydney, 1995, 204 (colour illus.).
Margo Neale, Yiribana: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collection, Sydney, 1994, 122, 123 (colour illus.), 136, 139. plate no. 60
Unknown (Editor), 1001 paintings you must see before you die, London, 2007, (colour illus.).
Unknown and Unknown, Inner-Land, Japan, 1993.
Gordon Bennett, Melbourne, 2007, 48-49 (colour illus.), 127. plate nos. 19-20
Susan McCulloch, Alan McCulloch and Emily McCulloch Childs, The new McCulloch's encyclopedia of Australian art, 'Bennett, Gordon', pg. 40-41, Carlton, 2006, 41.
Modern art: a criticial introduction, Oxon, 2005, 14-15, between pgs. 84 & 85 (colour illus.). plate no. 1