A Brush with Birds: Australian Bird Art from the National Library of Australia

Drawn from the National Library of Australia's collection, A Brush with Birds showcases bird art from 1788 to the present day. In her introduction, Penny Olsen reveals how Australian bird art has evolved from descriptive and scientific illustrations to more artistic portraits of birds in their natural habitats going about their daily lives. This book begins with First Fleet artists John Hunter and George Raper, who documented the strange new birds they encountered: the lyrebird named after its lyre-shaped tail, laughing kookaburras, brightly coloured parrots and the black swan. It covers artists such as John Lewin, John and Elizabeth Gould, the Cayleys, Ebenezer Gostelow, Lilian Medland, Betty Temple Watts and contemporary artist William Cooper. Short studies of the artists lives are followed by full-page colour reproductions of their best works. This lavishly illustrated gift book is a wonderful display of some of the extraordinary birds that live in Australia.