State Library of South Australia

[South Australian landscape][artwork] [B 70983] • Photograph

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Summary

A 'South Australian landscape' painted in watercolour on paper heightened with white and gum arabic. The painting shows a large island seen from a coastline with a white horse and its rider, in the foreground, wearing a red jacket and black hat, talking to an Aboriginal man holding a spear. Nearby are three cattle. Some buildings can be seen at left and two vessels are sailing near to shore. On the verso is displayed through the backing piece the inscription: 'Michl. Stark Esqr wh JM Skipper's complts' and a finger print in ink. A label in French has been partly cut off by this inscription.

Restrictions

This image depicts Australian Aboriginal people or aspects of their culture.

Conditions of use

Physical description

Artwork (watercolour, landscape); 15.5 cm x 32 cm in frame with glass 32 cm x 48.8cm

Dates / Publication details

Approximately 1855

Artist

Skipper, John Michael

Collection

Part of Artwork Collection

Subject

Skipper, John Michael, 1815-1883
Artists -- South Australia
Port Lincoln Region (S.A.)
Boston Bay (S.A.)
Boston Island (S.A.)

Catalogue record

Return to catalogue

General notes

It is possible this landscape shows an early scene of Port Lincoln, Boston Bay and Boston Island. There are many points of similarity between its topographical features and that of a similar sketch ca. 1871 by Benjamin Herschel Babbage, particularly in the outline of the hills on the island. (See PRG 404/19/3/79: 'Port Lincoln and Boston Island'.) There is no evidence that Skipper ever visited the Port Lincoln area. However, he included two small sketches of Port Lincoln in his personal copy of G.B. Wilkinson's 'South Australia: its advantages and its resources' (1848), pp. 41 and 199. They may have been done during the years Skipper was Clerk of the Court at Port Adelaide 1852-1872. George French Angas' 'Port Lincoln from Winter's Hill' (1845) in the Art Gallery of SA, is a similar picture but done from a slightly different aspect. Stark was the maiden name of J.M. Skipper's mother Jane; Michael Stark, the first owner of this work, may have been related to the artist.

Local notes

Contains Aboriginal content

Historical information

As an artist, J.M. Skipper combined a lively mind with acute observation and a natural and cultivated skill with some aesthetic sensibility. His sketches and paintings of the landscape, the flora, fauna and Aboriginals of South Australia, and of the streets, buildings, people, way of life and notable events of Adelaide are of some artistic and great historical interest. Most of his drawings and paintings are small (extract from Australian Dictionary of Biography entry for Skipper).

Digitisation information

Date

08/10/2008

Format

image/tiff

Resolution

5,200 x 2,544 pixels (13.2 MP)

Size

39.71 MB

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