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Art

Democratising art

A story worth telling
by Julie Ewington
October 2025, no. 480

On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible collection by Laura Couttie

Artbank, 296 pp

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This handsome book is a strange beast: half official report, half pitch to potential clients, half lavishly illustrated history of four decades of collecting Australian art. Clearly, this does not add up. Which is a pity, because Artbank is important to the current visibility, and popular success, of contemporary art in Australia.

 


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On Display: The story of Artbank, Australia’s most visible collection by Laura Couttie

Artbank, 296 pp

ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.


From the New Issue

Letters – October 2025

by Eli McLean, Theodore Ell, Ben Brooker, et al.

On the Calculation of Volume: Book I by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara J. Haveland & On the Calculation of Volume: Book II by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara J. Haveland

by Anthony Macris

‘Weather’

by Dženana Vucic

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