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    Through Colonial Eyes
    Through Colonial Eyes
    Through Colonial Eyes
    Ebook200 pages50 minutes

    Through Colonial Eyes

    By Spatio Temprey

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    About this ebook

    The story of Australian Colonial art. This ebook provides a comprehensive introduction to Australia's history and development from precolonial times, discovery, settlement and exploration to the centenary period (1880s) through the eyes of the artists at the time, including free settlers, visitors and convicts. It explores the way artists related to their new and alien landscape, the indigenous population and emerging society over time. The art is presented with analysis in its historical context. Created for educational purposes and aimed at upper secondary school level, at the same time it seeks to promote appreciation and understanding of art and the history of Australia's colonial period for the general interested reader.
    Selected quality reproductions are presented and discussed in context.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSpatio Temprey
    Release dateJul 16, 2014
    ISBN9781310839221
    Through Colonial Eyes
    Author

    Spatio Temprey

    My professional background is in art education. I have worked in secondary schools as well as a distance learning institution where I wrote and designed instructional materials. Educational qualifications: Dip Fine Art, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Arts (art history; philosophy), Master of Education (philosophy of education)

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      Book preview

      Through Colonial Eyes - Spatio Temprey

      Introduction

      What was the colonial art period in Australia?

      The colonial period began with the first settlement of Australia. Governor Phillip claimed the land as a British colony when he landed at Sydney Cove on Saturday 26 January 1788.

      The colonial period officially ended with Federation on Tuesday 1 January 1901 but for art history purposes, it ended earlier with the appearance of what is called the Heidelberg School of painters from 1886. This was the ‘centenary period’ (100 years after settlement). At this time artists began to paint in a self consciously Australian manner and in correspondence with Australia’s growing sense of identity and nationhood.

      This book divides colonial art into three sections.

      • Precolonial Australian prehistory, discovery and precolonial art up to 1788

      • Early colonial from 1788 to about 1860

      • Late colonial 1860s to the beginnings of the Heidelberg School in the 1880s

      Precolonial

      Australian prehistory and discovery

      Australian prehistory and discovery timeline

      Between 68,000 to 40,000 years ago Aborigines colonised Australia and began producing artefacts. Circa 100-1600 AD, Hindu-Buddhists from southern India colonised Indonesian islands in search of gold, precious spices and religious converts. They didn’t reach Australia, probably due to the invasion of India by Muslims who subsequently destroyed Hindu states in Indonesia in the 15th and 16th centuries. At around 1500 AD, Chinese settlement of the Indonesian islands to the north of Australia in search of the bird of paradise and the trepang later brought them to the northern coast of Australia. Chinese expansion to the south ended with a palace revolution in 1432 and a subsequent change of policy.

      The world became aware of an unknown world to the south and tales abounded. Some told that a terrible whirlpool sucked ships down to an abyss where a monstrous bird would devour the sailors. Another story was that all the waters drained into a vast hole in this southern world, taking ships to an unimaginable fate. The Chinese told of the kingdom of women and the Muslims reported it as the kingdom of the Antichrist. Tantalisingly, stories were also told about fabulous islands with great cities and golden treasures. Some ships must have strayed, blown by monsoons to the northern shores, but if any survived to return and report what had been seen, they contributed little to what was already known - which was practically nothing at all.

      It is thought that these stories deterred Muslim and Chinese vessels from sailing too far south, but the Europeans, with their advanced navigational technology, scientific developments, with a history of successful exploration and greater reliance on reason developed from the Enlightenment, were able to scoff at such superstitious stories. The Europeans were motivated by greed for material gain and the spirit of discovery, as well as religious zeal. They were interested in the tales of unknown lands, riches and the opportunity to save souls. Spanish and Portuguese searched spasmodically for the mythical islands of gold to the south of Java and the unknown southland.

      The Dutch were similarly interested in this quest and did land on two occasions in the Gulf of Carpenteria region but were not impressed: ‘there was no good to be found there!’ Instead of huge profits and souls to save, all they found was a land of ‘black barbarian savages.’ During the seventeenth century Dirk Hartog and other Dutch sailors touched onto the west coast of Australia.

      


      Pewter plate with inscription left by Dirk Hartog on an island (now called Dirk Hartog Island) off the coast of Shark Bay, Western Australia

      The Dutch East India Company launched an expedition, commanded by Abel Tasman, to discover the south land. In 1642 he discovered what is now known as Tasmania and then the west coast of New Zealand. No silver or gold mines were discovered. The native inhabitants of the land did not wear gold but were instead ‘naked, beach roving wretches who were excessively poor.’

      A view of the Murderers’ Bay, as you are at anchor here in 15 fathom, a drawing made by Abel Tasman’s artist Isaac Gilsemans in 1642 on the occasion of a skirmish between the Dutch explorers and Maori people, resulting in the death of four European sailors, at what is now called Golden Bay, New Zealand. This is the first European impression of Maori people.

      Captain Cook

      Captain James Cook was commissioned to observe the eclipse of 3 June 1769 at the newly discovered islands of Tahiti. He was also secretly instructed to search for the great unknown south land, believed, to be just over the horizon in the huge Pacific Ocean. On finding it he was to take possession for Britain. The mainland of the east coast of Australia was sighted on 19 April 1770.

      James Cook portrait by Nathaniel Dance c.1775 (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich)

      Joseph Banks, a wealthy young botanist on board, thought the land looked like the back of a lean cow - covered with long hair but rubbed bare on the scraggy hip bones.

      Joseph Banks painted by Benjamin West 1773 (Usher Art Gallery, Lincoln UK)

      Nine days later Cook landed at Botany Bay, near Sydney, in search of fresh water. Two Aboriginal men attempted to stop the English from landing by shouting and waving spears (‘I could not but admire their courage’). Cook was instructed to treat any natives with care and kindness, but after trying sign language and gifts, was forced to frighten them off by firing muskets between them.

      Cook’s view of the Aborigines differed from earlier descriptions. The earlier explorers reported the Aboriginals as extremely unfortunate, miserable savages, a view popular in Europe until Cook’s reports became available. Cook was responsible for the metamorphosis of ‘the miserablest people in the world’ into a people who had discovered the secrets of human happiness. Cook had discovered the ‘noble savage’ in the islands of Tahiti and when he had encountered the natives of New Holland (Australia), he wrote:

      They may appear to some to be the most wretched people upon the earth: but in reality they are far more happier than we Europeans; being wholly unacquainted not only with the superfluous but the necessary Conveniences so much sought after in Europe, they are happy in not knowing the use of them. They live in a Tranquillity which is not disturbed by the Inequality of Condition: The Earth and sea of their own accord furnishes them with all things necessary for life; they covet not Magnificent Houses, Household stuff &ca

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