Old Masters: Australia Great Bark Artists is a celebration of Aboriginal bark paintings drawn exclusively from the National Museum of Australia collection. This rich collection of Aboriginal bark paintings is the largest in the world, with many pieces dating back to the 1930s. Among the eroesof this collection are two influential artists, Narritjin Maymurru and Billy Yirawala, whose works feature prominently in this book. Old Masters is illustrated with large-scale photographic reproductions of 122 bark paintings from the collection. Essays from key scholars of Australian Indigenous bark painting, including Howard Morphy, Wally Caruana and Luke Taylor.

Contents:
Foreword / Mathew Trinca -- Introduction / Wally Caruana -- Essays : The shapes of things in central Arnhem Land bark painting / Wally Caruana -- Expressiveness in western Arnhem Land bark painting / Luke Taylor -- Abstraction in Arnhem Land bark painting / Howard Morphy -- A curatorial reflection : Dancing lines - a performative approach to Old Masters / Alisa Duff -- Identity -- Western Arnhem Land : Yirawala; School of Yirawala; Figures in the landscape; Dynamic figures; Nganmirra family; Murals -- Eastern Arnhem Land: Narritjin; Gumana and Yunupingu; Mutitjpuy; Marika Family; Mithinarri; Abstraction; Makassar -- Central Arnhem Land: Dawidi; Djan'kawu; Malangi; Milpurrurru; Portraits -- The old masters -- Index of artists to works -- Map of Arnhem Land.

Catalogue for the exhibition at the National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 6 December 2013 to 20 July 2014. Includes bibliographical references and index.