A view near Grose Head …, 1809

The colonial landscape as a work of art

Au Naturel

This view of the Grose River, probably close to its junction with Burralow Creek (near presentday Grose Vale), is perhaps the earliest surviving depiction of a Blue Mountains view. The eminence in the middle of this watercolour is probably Paterson Hill.

George William Evans (1780–1852) had explored the area in 1804 and this painting was possibly commissioned by the Lieutenant-Governor, William Paterson, who had discovered and named the river in 1793. It is unusual in that it is an early interpretation of a wild colonial landscape as a work of art, instead of a literal record of a landscape. Few Australian images of natural landscapes have survived from this period and this painting follows in the late eighteenthcentury tradition of consciously artistic depictions of wilderness. The two tiny Aboriginal figures (themselves representing the ‘wild’) in this majestic setting underline a landscape unimproved by man.
Display item A view near Grose Head …, 1809

 

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