The Resource The national picture : the art of Tasmania's black war, Tim Bonyhady and Greg Lehman
The national picture : the art of Tasmania's black war, Tim Bonyhady and Greg Lehman
Resource Information
The item The national picture : the art of Tasmania's black war, Tim Bonyhady and Greg Lehman represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Colby College Libraries.This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
Resource Information
The item The national picture : the art of Tasmania's black war, Tim Bonyhady and Greg Lehman represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Colby College Libraries.
This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
- Summary
- Benjamin Duterrau and his National picture project are at the core of this publication because he was the colonial artist most interested in Tasmania's Aboriginal people, and the only artist who chose to depict, on a substantial scale, their conciliation or pacification by George Augustus Robinson. While Duterrau's weaknesses as an artist are obvious, his limited skill largely saved him from bombast - a recurrent problem with history painting of his era. Despite the disappearance of much of his work, Duterrau also left us with a rich array of often striking images of individuals and subjects of great enduring significance, where there otherwise would be none. They provide us with a vital means of conjuring the past. For Tasmanian Aboriginal people today, Duterrau's paintings provide a tantalising and rare visual record of the unique culture practice of their ancestors. Robinson's journals offer written descriptions of activities, such as spear-making and throwing, kangaroo hunting and ceremonial dance, accompanied by only a scattering of small, often crude sketches, which are vitally important firsthand observations. But it was Duterrau, alone among colonial artists in Van Diemen's Land, who painted these scenes on a large scale. His anatomical modelling may be poor, but Duterrau's paintings have a sense of life that is not found elsewhere, and reflect his well-documented sympathy for Aboriginal people at the hands of a violent invading force. This publication is also framed around an image conceived by Tasmania's Surveyor-General George Frankland almost three years before Duterrau arrived in Hobart. The catalyst was Frankland's discovery that Aboriginal culture included a visual language. On a visit to the island's far north-west, he encountered drawings on trees and inside huts that included depictions of colonists. Words having manifestly failed because of the settlers' ignorance of Aboriginal languages, Frankland thought art could provide a novel means of communication and created a series of drawings that he described as depicting 'the cause of the present warfare' and the 'real wishes of the government' towards Aboriginal people: 'the desired termination of hostility'. His plan was that these drawings be reproduced and distributed around the bush, fastened on trees, where Aboriginal people were most likely to see them. He was so excited by this idea that, in February 1829, he wrote about it twice in the course of a week - to the colony's Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur, and to a member of the Colonial Office in London, advocating this use of pictures as an experiment worth trying since 'everything ought to be tried to accomplish a reconciliation'
- Language
- eng
- Extent
- 256 pages
- Note
- Prepublication record (machine generated from publisher information)
- Isbn
- 9780642334763
- Label
- The national picture : the art of Tasmania's black war
- Title
- The national picture
- Title remainder
- the art of Tasmania's black war
- Statement of responsibility
- Tim Bonyhady and Greg Lehman
- Subject
-
- Aboriginal Australians
- Aboriginal Australians -- Australia | Tasmania -- History
- Aboriginal Australians in art
- Aboriginal Australians in art
- Art
- Art -- Australia | Tasmania -- History
- Art -- Australie | Tasmanie -- Histoire
- Artistes -- Australie | Tasmanie -- Histoire
- Artists
- Artists -- Australia | Tasmania -- History
- Australian
- Australiens (Aborigènes) -- Australie | Tasmanie -- Histoire
- Australiens (Aborigènes) dans l'art
- History
- Indigenous Heritage -- Adult Non fiction -- Print
- Tasmania
- Language
- eng
- Summary
- Benjamin Duterrau and his National picture project are at the core of this publication because he was the colonial artist most interested in Tasmania's Aboriginal people, and the only artist who chose to depict, on a substantial scale, their conciliation or pacification by George Augustus Robinson. While Duterrau's weaknesses as an artist are obvious, his limited skill largely saved him from bombast - a recurrent problem with history painting of his era. Despite the disappearance of much of his work, Duterrau also left us with a rich array of often striking images of individuals and subjects of great enduring significance, where there otherwise would be none. They provide us with a vital means of conjuring the past. For Tasmanian Aboriginal people today, Duterrau's paintings provide a tantalising and rare visual record of the unique culture practice of their ancestors. Robinson's journals offer written descriptions of activities, such as spear-making and throwing, kangaroo hunting and ceremonial dance, accompanied by only a scattering of small, often crude sketches, which are vitally important firsthand observations. But it was Duterrau, alone among colonial artists in Van Diemen's Land, who painted these scenes on a large scale. His anatomical modelling may be poor, but Duterrau's paintings have a sense of life that is not found elsewhere, and reflect his well-documented sympathy for Aboriginal people at the hands of a violent invading force. This publication is also framed around an image conceived by Tasmania's Surveyor-General George Frankland almost three years before Duterrau arrived in Hobart. The catalyst was Frankland's discovery that Aboriginal culture included a visual language. On a visit to the island's far north-west, he encountered drawings on trees and inside huts that included depictions of colonists. Words having manifestly failed because of the settlers' ignorance of Aboriginal languages, Frankland thought art could provide a novel means of communication and created a series of drawings that he described as depicting 'the cause of the present warfare' and the 'real wishes of the government' towards Aboriginal people: 'the desired termination of hostility'. His plan was that these drawings be reproduced and distributed around the bush, fastened on trees, where Aboriginal people were most likely to see them. He was so excited by this idea that, in February 1829, he wrote about it twice in the course of a week - to the colony's Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur, and to a member of the Colonial Office in London, advocating this use of pictures as an experiment worth trying since 'everything ought to be tried to accomplish a reconciliation'
- Cataloging source
- AU@
- Index
- no index present
- Literary form
- non fiction
- http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
-
- Tim Bonyhady
- Greg Lehman
- National Gallery of Australia
- http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
-
- Art
- Artists
- Aboriginal Australians
- Aboriginal Australians in art
- Aboriginal Australians
- Aboriginal Australians in art
- Art
- Artists
- Tasmania
- Art
- Artistes
- Australiens (Aborigènes)
- Australiens (Aborigènes) dans l'art
- Target audience
- general
- Label
- The national picture : the art of Tasmania's black war, Tim Bonyhady and Greg Lehman
- Note
- Prepublication record (machine generated from publisher information)
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Carrier category
- volume
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Content category
- text
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Control code
- 1019806572
- Dimensions
- 27 cm
- Extent
- 256 pages
- Isbn
- 9780642334763
- Isbn Type
- (paperback)
- Media category
- unmediated
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Other physical details
- illustrations, portraits, maps
- System control number
- (OCoLC)1019806572
- Label
- The national picture : the art of Tasmania's black war, Tim Bonyhady and Greg Lehman
- Note
- Prepublication record (machine generated from publisher information)
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Carrier category
- volume
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Content category
- text
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Control code
- 1019806572
- Dimensions
- 27 cm
- Extent
- 256 pages
- Isbn
- 9780642334763
- Isbn Type
- (paperback)
- Media category
- unmediated
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Other physical details
- illustrations, portraits, maps
- System control number
- (OCoLC)1019806572
Subject
- Aboriginal Australians
- Aboriginal Australians -- Australia | Tasmania -- History
- Aboriginal Australians in art
- Aboriginal Australians in art
- Art
- Art -- Australia | Tasmania -- History
- Art -- Australie | Tasmanie -- Histoire
- Artistes -- Australie | Tasmanie -- Histoire
- Artists
- Artists -- Australia | Tasmania -- History
- Australian
- Australiens (Aborigènes) -- Australie | Tasmanie -- Histoire
- Australiens (Aborigènes) dans l'art
- History
- Indigenous Heritage -- Adult Non fiction -- Print
- Tasmania
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<div class="citation" vocab="http://schema.org/"><i class="fa fa-external-link-square fa-fw"></i> Data from <span resource="http://link.colby.edu/portal/The-national-picture--the-art-of-Tasmanias/jiaAZAiUAc8/" typeof="Book http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/Item"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a href="http://link.colby.edu/portal/The-national-picture--the-art-of-Tasmanias/jiaAZAiUAc8/">The national picture : the art of Tasmania's black war, Tim Bonyhady and Greg Lehman</a></span> - <span property="potentialAction" typeOf="OrganizeAction"><span property="agent" typeof="LibrarySystem http://library.link/vocab/LibrarySystem" resource="http://link.colby.edu/"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a property="url" href="https://link.colby.edu/">Colby College Libraries</a></span></span></span></span></div>
