We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands.

Title

Natives on the Ouse River, Van Diemen's Land

1838

Artist

John Glover

England, Australia

18 Feb 1767 – 09 Dec 1849

Artist profile

  • Details

    Date
    1838
    Media category
    Painting
    Materials used
    oil on canvas
    Dimensions
    78.0 x 115.6 cm stretcher; 106.0 x 143.5 x 14 cm frame
    Signature & date

    Signed and dated l.l. verso, pen and black ink ".../ J. Glover 1838".

    Credit
    Purchased with assistance from Mr and Mrs J K Bain 1985
    Location
    Not on display
    Accession number
    48.1985
    Copyright

    Reproduction requests

    Artist information
    John Glover

    Artist profile

    Works in the collection

    14

    Share
  • About

    The 33-year war between pakana (Tasmanian
    Aboriginal people) and colonisers was nearing its end
    when English artist John Glover emigrated to lutruwita
    / Tasmania in 1831. He arrived while the colony was
    under martial law following Lieutenant-Governor
    George Arthur’s 1828 proclamation for pakana to be
    removed from their lands ‘by whatever means a severe
    and inevitable necessity may dictate’.

    Glover befriended George Augustus Robinson,
    bricklayer-turned-missionary and self-proclaimed
    ‘Protector of the Aborigines’. Glover likely supported
    Robinson’s conciliation endeavours and later systematic
    removal of remaining pakana to nearby Vansittart Island
    – a history that Julie Gough references in her nearby
    work Dark Valley, Van Diemen’s Land 2008.

    This painting is one of Glover’s most important and
    subjective works, depicting pakana in the landscape
    he believed was theirs unaffected by colonisation. He
    paints pakana in the manicured, park-like plains that
    existed prior to his arrival – evidence of long-term
    Aboriginal land management practices.

  • Exhibition history

    Shown in 6 exhibitions

  • Bibliography

    Referenced in 36 publications

Other works by John Glover

See all 14 works