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An exhibition of Australiana at Bendigo Art Gallery views our culture through fresh eyes.

 â€˜It is our hope people will say that this Gallery with its Sculpture Garden on the banks of Lake Burley Griffin is, in itself, a work of art.’ - Gordon Darling, Chairman, Australian National Gallery, 1982.

The Thursday, October 21 sale of Fine Photographs at Swann Galleries will offer exceptional examples from the medium’s brightest practitioners.

In Adelbert von Chamisso’s gothic tale Peter Schlemihl, the hero sells his shadow to the devil in exchange for a purse perpetually filled with gold, but all the wealth in the world is not enough to compensate for the horror he inspires when his lack of a shadow is noticed.

They were childhood friends who grew up to share a keen interest in the evolving medium of photography.

The Sunbaker is Australian photographer Max Dupain’s most famous work: a low-angled, black-and-white image of a man’s head and forearms as he lies on a New South Wales beach.

A documentary about the late Harry Seidler, the architect Sydneysiders loved to hate, reappraises the simplicity and elegance of his modernist contribution.

An auction of major Australian art by Sotheby’s in Sydney last night suggests investors are back in the local art market, with the 69 works on offer realising $8.96 million (inc. buyer’s premium) in clearance rates of 75.4% at 132% by value.

A collection of images by legendary photographer Max Dupain have sold for more than $1 million at auction, setting an Australian record.

"How long do you want a virtuoso to sing in the cupboard?" asks Rex Dupain.

Childhood friends and then – ever so briefly – husband and wife, photographic trailblazers Olive Cotton and Max Dupain are celebrated in a joint exhibition coming to the Ian Potter Museum of Art from Tuesday, May 31.

Lurid Beauty: Australian Surrealism and its Echoes, National Gallery of Victoria, Federation Square. Until January 31, 2016.

Claire Lambe exposes sculpted big buttocks very publicly, while Julie Rrap quite clearly lacks a penis.

Some exhibitions should come with a "buyer beware" warning. Many will go along to The Photograph and Australia at the Art Gallery of NSW expecting to see a comprehensive historical survey of Australian photography.

Photography is the ultimate popular art form – never more so than the present, when images can be captured on a smartphone and transmitted around the world within seconds.