A painting once had to do more than exist—it had to demonstrate skill, communicate an idea, and give the viewer something recognisable to engage with.
But leading Australian artist Gordon Hanley says the art world has gradually abandoned these expectations, as postmodern and neo-Marxist ideas embed themselves in the cultural establishment.
He argues that an interconnected system of universities, art critics, galleries, and government grant councils now help perpetuate these ideas—rewarding conformity to prevailing ideological styles, while making it harder for young artists to pursue traditional skills.
A watercolour by Australian artist Gordon Hanley. Courtesy of Gordon Hanley
“Starting in the early 1900s, before photography more or less took over, the neo-Marxists gained control of the universities and this gives rise to postmodernism. This is a belief that there is no objective truth,” Hanley tells The Epoch Times.
This later paved the path for “cultural relativism,” which dictates that all cultures are equal; this, in turn, feeds into the art world, where standards of beauty and quality erode as “anything can be perceived as art.”
“Obviously, Impressionism was a step towards that, but Impressionism still held the basic tenets of the great Western forms of the last 500 years,” Hanley said. “The cliff face was abstract expressionism, which basically said, ‘Well, the subject doesn’t matter. All the things you learned in art school, none of those matter either.’”
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A member of staff poses next to a painting by U.S artist Jackson Pollock entitled “Blue Poles” at the Royal Academy of Arts in London on Sept. 20, 2016. Carl Court/Getty Images
Silverpoint eventually lost popularity with the development of graphite pencils.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), profile of a warrior 1472, silverpoint on prepared paper, 285 x 207 mm. British Museum, London Public Domain
Hanley says artists in the traditional disciplines need to plan, learn how to handle paint, convey a meaning or narrative that can resonate with the public, and translate scenes from the three dimensional world onto a two dimensional canvass.
“A great piece of art is one that can elicit an emotional response, where the artist can establish a dialogue more or less with the viewer, even if the artist is long dead. You have a look at a work by Rembrandt. There’s a reason why the National Gallery of Victoria can hold an exhibition on Dutch masters and there’s a queue at the front of the gallery to go see it.”
Gordon Hanley’s “Battle of the Nile,” an oil painting he completed when he was 26. Taken in Brisbane, Queensland on Sept. 10, 2026. Daniel Y. Teng/The Epoch Times
Instead, many propagators of avant-garde or modernist movements—like Pablo Picasso—were sympathetic to Marxist or communist theories, which advocate not only for the overthrow of democratic or Western political systems, but also traditional arts, skills, and beliefs.
Subsequent movements like pointillism, fauvism, dadaism, and Picasso’s cubism continued this trend—Picasso himself joined the French Communist Party in 1944.
In a broader response to this trend, Fred Ross, chair of the Art Renewal Center, argues that fine art differs from regular crafts or sciences, in that it has a higher purpose—helping people “find ways of capturing, expressing and communicating with empathy, passion, and compassion the road we all must take between birth and death.”
“The ‘grammar’ is made up of the rules and skills needed to successfully and believably render the images,” Ross says.
“The modernist paradigm banished the only universal language that exists: realistic imagery, with the techniques and skills required to achieve it.”
A Parliament of Owls, a “goldpoint” piece by Australian artist Gordon Hanley. Courtesy of Gordon Hanley
How Taxpayer Grants Changed the Equation
Hanley warns the advent of government funding for arts programs has played a role embedding modern styles, and argues private philanthropy is the way forward—but a struggling economy in recent years, means this avenue is also drying up.
“If you’re an up-and-coming artist and you want a career, then you’re not going to hit the kind of monetary return for your work that, say, an artist my age does,” Hanley says.
“So they chase a grant, but to get a grant, what have you got to do? Well, produce the government-approved work. Then, if you have a firm left-wing or socialist-leaning government in, you can just imagine what the ideology is.”
Hanley says the prevalence of left-leaning ideology in university education means the ideas disperse quickly, and in turn, once students mature they enter a variety of fields and become senior staff or managers of grant councils, galleries, and academia.
Anniversary, a “goldpoint” painting by Gordon Hanley. Courtesy of Gordon Hanley
Subsequently, they demonstrate an openness and foster the continuation of left-wing ideas.
Hanley said one example of this cycle was the decision last year by Creative Australia to select artists Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino to represent Australia at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
Sabsabi, who fled to Australia with his family amid civil war in Lebanon in the late 1970s, had created art installations depicting imagery associated with Sept. 11, as well as a digital installation depicting a speech by now-deceased Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah.
The Epoch Times has spoken to other aspiring artists who have complained about the issue of grants.
Young opera singer Henry Pinder started Brisbane Live Opera saying he wants to rely less on government grants, citing concerns with ideology among other issues.
While young composer Alexander Voltz says the realm of composition faces similar problems.
“The price tags attached to these things, some of the money that these composers are making is absolutely outrageous.”
The Epoch Times contacted Creative Australia for comment regarding how grant funding is allocated.
