Painting in Australia in the early part of the 20th Century was, as a whole, solely realistic. It was an art that never departed from what could be seen by the eye on the surface of nature. It transcribed nature, and was primarily illustrative. The awakening of Australian painters from this traditional art has been very sudden. It is true that there have been breakaways from time to time but these have not been of sufficient strength to make an important change. 

Less than ten years ago a body of artists formed “The Contemporary Group.” This group stormed Australian cities and held exhibitions in nearly all the States, in which they showed that Australia had artists who were not afraid to march with the times, and that they wished by intuition, analysis by synthesis, and reality by symbols, to express what they considered were the fundamentals of the times. These exhibitions were met with derision, with little sympathy or understanding. However, the public always has had to be educated by the artist, and soon there was less derision and more agreement.