Title
View of the Heads, at the entrance into Port Jackson
circa 1822
Artist
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Details
- Date
- circa 1822
- Media category
- Watercolour
- Materials used
- watercolour
- Dimensions
- 17.5 x 27.7 cm image; 21.4 x 28.9 cm sheet
- Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1978
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 97.1978
- Copyright
- Artist information
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Joseph Lycett
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
Lycett prepared a number of drawings with the view to publishing them as a portfolio of lithographs. 'Views of Australia' was to appear in twelve monthly parts from 1824, each part containing two views of NSW and two of Van Diemen's Land, with descriptions and a map supplement. 'View of the heads at the entrance to Port Jackson', a view of Sydney Harbour, was one of these lithographs. The subjects Lycett chose for his Tasmanian views corresponded with the places Governor Macquarie visited on his tour of inspection with artists George William Evans and James Taylor in 1821. It is unclear whether he visited all the sites included in his 'Views of Australia'; there are no references to his inclusion in the party in Macquarie's journal. Lycett may have copied the work of others for some of the plates; certainly he changed many of the features (such as the vegetation) to comply with contemporary English ideas on picturesque composition, and differences between extant versions seem to indicate that there was probably more than one 'original' drawing for each plate.
Australian Art Department, AGNSW, 2000
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Exhibition history
Shown in 7 exhibitions
Australian, New Zealand British and European historical and contemporary drawings and paintings sculptures, Leonard Joel, South Yarra, 24 May 1978–25 May 1978
Australian images: Prints, drawings and watercolours from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Dec 1979–28 Jan 1980
Harbour hymns, city songs: visions of Sydney from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 13 Jan 1990–11 Mar 1990
Nineteenth century Australian watercolours from the collection (1991), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 13 Apr 1991–07 Jul 1991
19th century Australian watercolours, drawings & pastels, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 06 Apr 2005–24 Jul 2005
Joseph Lycett: Convict Artist, Museum of Sydney, Sydney, 01 Apr 2006–18 Jun 2006
Joseph Lycett: Convict Artist, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, 08 Jul 2006–27 Aug 2006
Joseph Lycett: Convict Artist, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 01 Mar 2007–11 Jun 2007
Colony: Australia 1770 1861, Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne, 15 Mar 2018–15 Jul 2018
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Bibliography
Referenced in 9 publications
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Jane de Teliga, Australian images: Prints, drawings and watercolours from the collection, Sydney, 1979, 7.
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Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian Collection: Works on Paper', pg. 182-197, Sydney, 1999, 184 (colour illus.).
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Hendrik Kolenberg., Nineteenth century Australian watercolours from the collection, 'Introduction', Sydney, 1991. not paginated, cat.no. 40
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Hendrik Kolenberg, 19th century Australian watercolours, drawing and pastels from the Gallery's collection, 'Introduction', pg. 6-16, Sydney, 2005, 9, 22, 23 (colour illus.).
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Leonard Joel, Australian, New Zealand British and European historical and contemporary drawings and paintings sculptures, Wednesday, 24 May, Thursday, 25 May, Friday, 26 May, 1978, Melbourne, 1978, 88 (illus.). lot no. 430
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Tim McCormick, First views of Australia 1788-1825: a history of early Sydney, Chippendale, 1987, 246 (colour illus.). cat.no. 205
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Lynette C. McLoughlin, Landscape research [vol. 24, no. 1], 'Vegetation in the early landscape art of Sydney region, Australia: accurate record or artistic licence?', pg. 25-47, Manchester, 1999, 35, 36 (illus.). figure no. 3
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John McPhee, Look, 'Joseph Lycett: convict artist who captured the colony's early years', pg. 18-19, Sydney, Apr 2006, 19 (colour illus.).
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Kay Vernon, Harbour hymns, city songs: visions of Sydney from the collection, Sydney, 1990, cover (colour illus.). cat.no. 97
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