Aboriginal Art and Culture Bibliography

Below is a list of the most authoritative or useful reference books on Aboriginal art and culture. Quite a number are out of print, and are only available through libraries or second hand book dealers, but a number of the more recent ones are available through our Online Shop.

For a list of books about individual artists, see our page on Aboriginal Art Monongraphs.

Altman, J.C. (Chairman, The Aboriginal Arts and Crafts Industry: Report of the Review Committee, AGPS, Canberra ACT, 1989

Altman, J.C. and Taylor, L., (eds), Marketing Aboriginal Art in the 1990s, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra ACT, 1990

Amadio, N., and R. Kimber. Wildbird Dreaming: Aboriginal Art from the Central Deserts of Australia. Melbourne: Greenhouse Publications, Melbourne, 1988

Bardon, G., Aboriginal Art of the Western Desert. Rigby, Adelaide, 1979

Bardon, G., Papunya Tula Art of the Western Desert. McPhee Gribble, Ringwood VIC, 1991

Battarbee, R. Modern Australian Aboriginal Art Angus and Robertson Sydney, 1958

Berndt, R. M., and C. H. Berndt., with J. Stanton. Aboriginal Australian Art, a Visual Perspective, Methuen Australia Pty Ltd, Sydney, 1982

Black, R., Australian Aboriginal Art. Angus & Robertson. Sydney,1964.

Brody, A. Utopia: a Picture Story, 88 Silk Batiks from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Heytesbury Holdings Ltd, Perth, 1990

Cane, S. Pila Nguru: The Spinifex People, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2002

Caruana, W. Aboriginal Art, Thames and Hudson, London, 1993

Caruana, W., and N. Lendon. (eds.), The Painters of the Wagilag Sisters Story 1937 - 1997, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT, 1997

Cowan, J. Wirrimanu: Aboriginal Art from the Balgo Hills, Gordon and Breach Arts International, East Roseville, NSW, 1994

Cowan, J. Balgo: New Directions, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1999

Crawford, I. M.. The Art of the Wandjina: Aboriginal Cave Paintings in Kimberley, Western Australia.: Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1968

Croft, B., Indigenous Art: Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of WA, Perth, 2001.

Croker, A. (ed.), Mr Sandman, Bring Me a Dream, Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd and Sydney: Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd, Alice Springs, NT, 1981

Crumlin, R. (ed.), Aboriginal Art and Spirituality, Collins Dove, North Blackburn, VIC, 1991

Dyer, C. Kunwinjku Art from Injalak 1991-1992, The John W. Kluge Commission, Museum Arts International Pty Ltd, Adelaide, 1994

Eickelkamp, U. Don't Ask for Stories: The Ernabella Women and their Art, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, ACT, 1999

Hardy, J., and J. V. S. Megaw., and M. R. Megaw. (eds.), The Heritage of Namatjira: the Watercolourists of Central Australia, William Heinemann, 1992

Holmes, S. The Goddess and the Moon Man: The Sacred Art of the Tiwi Aborigines. Craftsman House, Sydney,1995

Isaacs, J., Australia's Living Heritage, Arts of the Dreaming. Lansdowne Press, Sydney, 1984

Isaacs, J. Aboriginality: Contemporary Aboriginal Paintings and Prints. University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, QLD, 1989

Isaacs, J. Hermannsburg Potters: Aranda Artists of Central Australia Craftsman House, Sydney, 2000

Isaacs, J. Spirit Country: Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art Hardie Grant Books, South Yarra, VIC, 1999

Johnson, V. The Dictionary of Western Desert Artists, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1994

Johnson, V. Dreamings of the Desert: Aboriginal Dot Paintings of the Western Desert, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 1996

Jones, P., Sutton, P. (et al). Art and Land. Aboriginal Sculptures of the Lake Eyre Region. South Australian Museum, Adelaide 1986.

Kleinert, S., and M. Neale. (eds.), The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture, Oxford University Press and The Australian National University, London, 2001

McCulloch, S., Contemporary Aboriginal Art. Allen and Unwin (Australia) Sydney, 2002

McCulloch, A., and McCulloch S., The Encyclopedia of Australian Art. Allen and Unwin, St Leonards, NSW, 1994

Morphy, H. (ed.), Animals into Art. London: Unwin Hyman, London, 1989

Morphy, H. Ancestral Connections: Art and an Aboriginal System of Knowledge. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1991

Morphy, H. Aboriginal Art. Phaidon, London, 1998

Morphy, H., and M. Smith Boles, Art from the Land. Virginia: University of Virginia, Virginia, 1999

Munn, N. D. Walbiri Iconography: Graphic Representation and Cultural Symbolism in a Central Australian Society (2nd Edition). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1986

Murphy, B. The Native Born: Objects and representations from Ramingining, Arnhem Land. Museum Contemporary .Art, Sydney 1996

Myers, F. Painting Country: The Making of an Aboriginal High Art, Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2002

Partos, L. A Celebration of Fifty Years of Ernabella Arts. Ernabella Arts Inc, Ernabella, NT, 1998

Parker, A. Images in Ochre: The Art and Craft of the Kunwinjku, Kangaroo Press, Sydney, 1997

Perkins, H. and Fink H. (eds), Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2000

Ryan, J. (ed.), Mythscapes: Aboriginal Art of the Desert, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1990

Ryan, J. (ed.), with Akerman, K., Images of Power: Aboriginal Art of the Kimberley. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1993

Sayers, A. Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1994

Seear, L., Allen L., Mundine D., Quaill A. et al. Story Place: Indigenous Art of Cape York and the Rainforest, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane 2003

Stanton, J. Painting the Country: Contemporary Aboriginal Art from the Kimberley Region. University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, WA, 1989

Strocchi, M. (ed.), Ikuntji: Paintings from Haasts Bluff 1992-1994. IAD Press, Alice Springs, NT, 1995

Sutton, P. (ed.), Dreamings: The Art from Aboriginal Australia, Viking. Ringwood, VIC, 1988

Taylor, L. Seeing the Inside: Bark Painting in Western Arnhem Land, Oxford University Press Inc, New York:, 1996

Taylor, L. (ed.), Painting the Land Story, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, ACT, 1999

Warlukurlangu Artists, Kuruwarri: Yuendumu Doors Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra ACT, 1987

Winter, J. Native Title Business: Contemporary Aboriginal Art Keeaira Press, Southport QLD, 2002

Wright, F. and Morphy, F. (eds), The Art and Craft Centre Story: A Survey of Thirty-nine Aboriginal Community Art and Craft Centres in Remote Australia, Vol. 2, Summary and Recommendations, ATSIC, Canberra.