Anne Dangar
7 Dec 2024 – 27 Apr 2025
Level 1, Gallery 12
Free with ticket
![](https://media.nga.gov.au/afCjqk_CDsyz1AF015DcPViQN6E=/1600x0//national-gallery-of-australia/media/dd/images/132017_-_Large_Viewing_JPEG_4200px.jpg)
Anne Dangar, Pot with spiral decoration, 1934 - 1950, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2002
'I wonder when Sydney will deign to give you and me orders? Perhaps in 100 years they’ll pay fabulous prices for us darling and we’ll smile down upon ’em from above! '
About
Anne Dangar showcases the innovation of this Australian pioneer of Cubism in the twentieth century.
Anne Dangar (1885–1951) occupies a unique position in art history as one of Australia’s most important, yet underacknowledged modern artists.
Almost a century ago in 1930, she moved permanently to the artist colony Moly-Sabata in France, established by the cubist painter Albert Gleizes. Over the next two decades, she dedicated herself to Cubism, developing a distinct practice that synthesised traditional French pottery with cubist designs and decorations.
Dangar is one of very few Australian artists to form part of the European avant-garde in the twentieth century, and the only to meaningfully contribute to Cubism in France, her adopted home. She was also a dedicated advocate and promoter of modern art in Australia, the first to teach and arguably to exhibit cubist art in the country, and she directly influenced the development of abstraction in Sydney from the 1930s onwards.
Bringing together ceramics, paintings, works on paper and archival material, this exhibition will explore Dangar’s life and practice, as well as her important position in French modern art as one of most dedicated and truly modern Australian artists of the twentieth century.
The exhibition is accompanied by a major publication led by Rebecca Edwards with contributions from Peter Brooke, Angela Goddard, ADS Donaldson, Elena Taylor and Anne O’Hehir.
Anne Dangar is a Know My Name project, the National Gallery initiative celebrating the work of all women artists to enhance understanding of their contribution to Australia’s cultural life.
The National Gallery gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation.
Please book a free Gallery entry ticket to gain admission to the National Gallery. We encourage you to book ahead of your visit.
Curator: Dr Rebecca Edwards, Curator, Australian Art
Works of Art
Publication
The Australian cubist and potter Anne Dangar (1885–1951) has occupied a unique position in art history as one of the country’s most important yet underacknowledged modern artists. The National Gallery is honoured to present Anne Dangar, a publication accompanying a major retrospective exhibition celebrating Dangar’s life and art through previously unknown works, new scholarship and perspectives on her practice.
Rebecca Edwards, Curator, Australian Art, provides a detailed and engaging account of Dangar’s art and life, tracing her beginnings in Kempsey, NSW, her studies in Sydney and Paris, and her subsequent journey to Moly-Sabata, Sablons, France. There she established her international reputation as a cubist artist. Featuring contributions by Elena Taylor, Angela Goddard, Anne O’Hehir, ADS Donaldson and the late Peter Brooke, the publication surveys Dangar’s art, networks and legacy.
With over 150 of the artist’s works reproduced, as well as previously unpublished archival material, this richly illustrated book is a comprehensive record of Dangar’s impressive artistic output and impact on Australian modernism.
PUBLISHING DECEMBER 2024
264 pages
300 x 240mm
full colour | hardback
RRP $79.95
ISBN 978-0-642-33509-8
*Members discount available for publication purchases made at the Gallery in the Art Store only.
![Photo of the front cover of the Anne Dangar publication, published by the NGA in December 2024.](https://media.nga.gov.au/pLnfsz0V9n1Jr0vkmmCUtFONjiM=/adaptive-fit-in/800x0//national-gallery-of-australia/media/dd/images/NGA_AnneDangar_Cover.jpg)