The Expressionist eye

Australia, 1981

Please note

Sorry, we don't have images or video for this item.

Episode number 19 of Series “The Australian eye IV”.
Recollections of Melbourne in the 1940s. Examines the rise of artists: Arthur Boyd, Josl Bergner, Joy Hester, Sidney Nolan, John Perceval, Albert Tucker Danila Vassilief, John Reed, Peter Herbst, Barrett Reid and Bernard Smith. This film provides an understanding of that rebellious period when the course of Australian art took a new direction under European Expressionism.

Content notification

Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.

Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.

How to watch

This work has not been digitised and is currently unavailable to view online. It may be possible for approved reseachers to view onsite at ACMI.

Learn more about accessing our collection

Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

David Muir

producer

Malcolm Otton

production company

Australian National Gallery

Film Australia

Duration

00:13:00:00

Production places

Australia

Production dates

1981

Appears in

The Australian eye IV

Group of items

The Australian eye IV

Explore

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

014710

Language

English

Subject categories

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Melbourne (Vic.)

Crafts & Visual Arts → Art - Australia

Crafts & Visual Arts → Art - History

Crafts & Visual Arts → Art, Modern - 20th century - Australia

Crafts & Visual Arts → Australian National Gallery

Crafts & Visual Arts → Bergner, Yosl, 1920-

Crafts & Visual Arts → Expressionism (Art)

Crafts & Visual Arts → Hester, Joy, 1920-1960

Crafts & Visual Arts → Nolan, Sidney, Sir, 1917-1992

Crafts & Visual Arts → Perceval, John, 1923-

Crafts & Visual Arts → Tucker, Albert, 1914-

Crafts & Visual Arts → Vassilieff, Danila, 1897-1958

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - Australia

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Bergner, Yosl, 1920-

History → History

People → Bergner, Yosl, 1920-

People → Boyd, Arthur, 1920-

People → Hester, Joy, 1920-1960

People → Nolan, Sidney, Sir, 1917-1992

People → Perceval, John, 1923-

People → Tucker, Albert, 1914-

People → Vassilieff, Danila, 1897-1958

Places → Melbourne (Vic.)

Short films

Short films → Short films - Australia

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/76642--the-expressionist-eye/ |title=The Expressionist eye |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=8 July 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}