SOUTH AUSTRALIA ILLUSTRATED:
Colonial painting in the Land of Promise
2 JUNE TO 5 AUGUST 2012
Tickets $12 adult / $10 concession / $8 members / $6 student /
children under 14 FREE / $10 members' season ticket
Opening Weekend 2 for 1 ticket offer
Ticket includes admission to
Bounty:
Nineteenth-century South Australian gold and silver
South Australia Illustrated: colonial painting in the Land of Promise provides
insight into the remarkable development of the colony of South Australia.
During the 1830s the British province of South Australia was promoted to emigrants as the
'land of promise', offering the enticing prospect of a fresh start and prosperous life. The rapidly
growing colony was fortunate to have among its population several artists who were deeply inspired
by their experiences in a new land including Martha Berkeley, S.T Gill, William Light, Alexander
Schramm and J.M Skipper.
South Australia Illustrated offers a rich and diverse picture of the development of the
colony. Drawing almost 200 works of art from the Art Gallery’s collection, the exhibition also
features key works generously lent by private, state and national collections.
From as early as 1836, watercolours by J.M Skipper provided insight into the first days of
arrival, while surveyor-general William Light's beautiful landscapes of the late 1830s are informed
by his topographer's eye. S.T. Gill's lively street scenes record growth and success and G.F.
Angas's watercolours - intended as images for
South Australia Illustrated published in London - encouraged further emigration.
Towards the latter part of the nineteenth century, works by H.P. Gill, Louis Tannert and
Alice and Helen Hambidge reflect a growing interest in figurative and genre painting, while the
landscapes of young Hans Heysen suggest a burgeoning interest in national identity through
landscape, which became the hallmark of much of Australia’s art in the early twentieth century.
On display with
South Australia Illustrated are
Bounty: Nineteenth-century South Australian gold and silver
and
South Australia Illustrated: From the street
, a
contemporary response to the works of art featuring Ali Baker, James Dodd and
Peter Drew.
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Bounty:
Nineteenth-century South Australian
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South Australia Illustrated:
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PRINCIPAL PARTNER
detail: Edmund Gouldsmith, Australia, 1852–1932,
Adelaide from Montefiore Hill 1885, 1885, Adelaide, watercolour on paper, 28.0 x 61.0 cm;
Gift of the Council of the School of Mines 1891
detail: John Michael Skipper, Australia, 1815–1883,
Glenelg Beach, South Australia 1836, 1836, Glenelg, South Australia, watercolour on paper,
18.0 x 16.5 cm; d'Auvergne Boxall Bequest Fund 1991
detail: Henry Steiner, Australia, 1835–1914,
Bracelet, c.1869, Adelaide, gold, malachite, 4.0 x 7.5 x 6.5 cm (bracelet), 9.5 x 11.8 x
10.6 cm (case); Gift of Diana Evans, Lady Porter, Anne Prior, and Marion Wells through the Art
Gallery of South Australia Foundation Collectors Club 2005
detail: Peter Drew, Australia,
Colonel William Light Stencil
