Australian artists as rock art researchers: Percy Leason’s theories on cave art

Abstract

This paper sheds light on those non-Indigenous Australian artists who research rock art. The Australian tonal realist Percy Alexander Leason (1889-1959) made copies of rock paintings and the caves near Glenisla [or Glen Isla] for the National Museum of Victoria’s 1929 exhibition of Aboriginal art. Further studies of the Cave of the Serpent at Mount Langi Ghiran and of rock paintings in the Mootwingee range, New South Wales, inspired Leason to produce publications outlining his ideas. This paper reveals Leason’s contributions to rock art research, beginning with the model cave created for the 1929 exhibition, through his sketches, paintings and dioramas which illustrate his internationally recognised theories on cave art. The example of Leason foregrounds the existence of a much greater interest in rock art by Australian artists than has previously been imagined. So great is this interest that a new narrative of modern and contemporary Australian art can be written entirely based upon artistic engagement with rock art.

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