The Early Colonial Art of Australia
In the course of writing about early Australian art, I started to get an understanding of how important art was to the early settlers; I hadn’t really considered art's real significance for them on a personal level – linking them to their loved ones, their homeland, and giving comfort. I think this is largely overlooked. It’s an interesting example of how art can be important to us. I wanted to know more about Australia's art - in this case the beginning of the imported European art tradition that arrived with the colonists. It grew into a day-dream inspired interest in how it felt to be one of the first settlers. I hope the article will give you a good overview of early colonial art history, and that the details I've included about their lives will give you something to consider when you think of Sydney. The article consists mainly of three parts: EXPLORATION; CONVICT ARTISTS; and JOHN LEWIN.
Introduction
I like to imagine that I am sailing between the heads into Sydney Harbour. The city doesn’t exist - yet.
If I’d been on board the First Fleet arriving in 1788 how would this have all looked, and what would my thoughts be? It was a January evening when the fleet rounded South Head, and the colours of sunset lay on the horizon.
There is something emotionally charged about arriving by boat. Having grown up on an island, I thought this might be unique to me, but having seen the decks of ships sparkling with camera flashes I think many travellers have this feeling, and I am sure it goes deeper than just trying to get a snapshot of new surroundings.
Maybe we imagine past travellers making the same journey; watching the land appear from the line of the horizon, getting closer like it was coming in on the tide. The voyage of the First Fleet was one of the momentous sea voyages in English history – crossing more than fifteen thousand miles in 252 days – 48 people died. The British Fleet had set out from Portsmouth on 13 May 1787. The original plan to inhabit Botany Bay was abandoned in favour of Sydney Cove, Port Jackson (now Sydney Harbour), and it was here that the penal colony was established in January 1788. The voyage not only removed criminals from British soil, but also began a British possession of the new land. The British Government looked to gain on both counts.
At this time, artists often joined the crew on important expeditions; to catalogue new discoveries. No professional artist sailed with the First Fleet, and instead amateur artists recorded their first impressions of Australia.
EXPLORATION: SHIPS & OFFICERS
Some of these amateur artists were naval officers. They had learned topographical drawing at the academies – a useful skill at a time when drawings played a vital role in mapping, exploration and warfare.
George Raper (1769 – 97), midshipman on HMS Sirius, left England aged 18. He produced many images during his time in Australia, probably for his own interest and to show friends and family – they are beautifully illustrated but without the notes and detail that would suggest they were intended for scientific interest. Raper’s images are typical of early settler art – they are detailed and show a particular interest in the new plants and wildlife. Other popular subjects at this time include Aboriginal culture and the topography of the new landscape.
Raper’s captain, John Hunter (1737 –1821) was also an amateur artist. Hunter seems to have copied many images from Raper. Today, there is an interesting problem of attribution among the First Fleet artists. These people’s lives were so intertwined – living and working side by side – it’s natural that they would share notes and drawings, and copy each other’s images. Determining the true authorship of many of the drawings is very difficult.
When entering Sydney Harbour today the bridge is amazingly distant, showing the length of the inlet. The First Fleet was under the command of Capt Arthur Phillip, and his delight with the harbour is evident in his words to Lord Sydney “We…had the satisfaction of finding the finest harbour in the world, in which a thousand sail of the line may ride with the most perfect security.”
As well as a sense of relief at reaching their destination safely, there must have been some excitement at seeing such an impressive harbour in the evening light. There must have been fear too. From Cook’s visit in 1770, to when the First Fleet left Britain in 1787, no other ship had been to the new land. It was an unexplored continent. The fact that such a huge venture went ahead with this limited knowledge, I find perhaps the most incredulous part of this undertaking. To load ships with human cargo and set sail to the other side of the world with no real understanding of the destination, seems like a dark nightmarish tale from old legends. And from the passengers’ perspective – a fearful tale.
The First Fleet sailed up towards where the bridge now stands and found anchorage at Sydney Cove (area of Circular Quay today). It’s hard to imagine a time before settlement, and what existed before. An account from that period by David Collins notes “each man stepped from the boat literally into a wood.” Once ashore work began immediately on setting up the penal colony.
Visual records as well as eye-witness accounts provide a huge amount of information about these earliest days of Sydney. Like Raper and Hunter, Lieutenant William Bradley arrived on the HMS Sirius. Bradley’s drawing of Sydney Cove and a combined sketch and map by the convict Francis Fowkes are two very important early records of the settlement. From these, the layout of the settlement is evident. The Governor’s house and accommodation for officers and their convict servants stand on the eastern side of Sydney Cove. To the west, at The Rocks, the rest of the settlers made camp – tents and primitive huts were their shelter. The Fleet had brought 3 trained carpenters, a prefabricated residence for the Governor, and canvas.
Art is the means by which life reflects on, transforms and indeed creates its values; human life without it would not properly be human at all.
Antony Gormley
Quicklinks
EXTRAS
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The 11-ship fleet left Portsmouth on 13 May 1787, heading for Tenerife. Its aim - to establish a penal colony in Australia.
“From the number of curious plants we met with on shore, we called
the bay Botany-Bay.” Sydney Parkinson, A Journal of a Voyage to the
South Seas, 1773One of the most talented settler artists is George Raper, a young midshipman on the flagship of the First Fleet, the HMS Sirius.
Images that accompanied original article:
Swift Parrot by George Raper © National Library of Australia
Waratah by George Raper © National Library of Australia
Rock Lily by John Hunter © National Library of Australia
Sydney Cove by Wm Bradley (detail) © Mitchell Library
Sydney Cove by Francis Fowkes (detail) © Mitchell Library