This collection of 200 papers introduces the ideas of modernism and its influence on Australia. The main players of the time period from 1917-1967 convey in their own words the tensions, aspirations and paradoxes behind the reception of modernism. Each document is accompanied by expert commentaries from the editors. The first anthology covering modernist art, design, and architecture in Australia, it chronicles the dogged institutional resistance that greeted modernism, particularly in the fine arts, and yet reveals a surprising acceptance of modernism in the commercial realms.