Bark painting from Arnhem Land has been one of the most renowned forms of Aboriginal painting since the twentieth century. The earliest examples were collected between 1838 and 1878 on Essington Island.

During the wet season the bark is peeled from the trunk of the stringybark tree (Eucalyptus tetradonta). The curved boards are then cured and flattened. The rough outer layer is removed and the inside smoothed to be painted later. Traditionally the colours are extracted from red and yellow ochres, white kaolin and black charcoal (on Groote Eylandt the black pigments are extracted from manganese nodules). Up until the mid-twentieth century, these pigments were mixed with wax, egg yolk, resin or the sap of orchid plants but since then basic wood glues have also been used as binders.

The subjects and way these are depicted as always reflect Aboriginal culture and their social and spiritual beliefs. In Arnhem Land, figurative representations and patterns go hand in hand. Traditional motifs, however, can be attributed to different clans and regional variations can be demonstrated (e.g. the “X-ray style” in western Arnhem Land). In contrast to rock paintings that can survive over millennia, bark paintings were regarded as non-durable teaching aids although they were also used at ritual ceremonies.