My Australia

Foreword by Russell Drysdale.

Hal Missingham was one of the most influential and determined figures in the Australian art world of the 1950s and 60s. He was active at a time when Australian painting was flourishing but the general population was still suspicious of art as an expression of luxury. The then small art world became a rare, close-knit group with shared aims and directions, which it has not been possible to repeat in our more complex contemporary society with its diversity of art practice.

Missingham was director of the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney for 26 years, from 1945 to 1971. Steering the gallery through a difficult time, he transformed the perception of contemporary Australian art and started a renaissance that spread across the country.