View of Sydney Harbour, ca. 1864 / Eliza Thurston

XV/168

fonds

ca. 1864

Graphic Materials, Paintings

1006063

1 painting - gouache on paper with seaweed and shells - 30 x 41 cm

Eliza Thurston, painter, was born in 1807 in Bath, England, the daughter of an artist and music teacher. She trained in Bath and was listed in local directories as a ‘professor of drawing’. She married John Noel Thurston, auctioneer, in 1830, and the couple had six children, while Eliza continued to paint and teach drawing. After her husband’s death in 1846, she migrated to Australia with her children, arriving in Sydney in 1853. In order to support her family she continued to work as a painter and teacher, advertising herself as Mrs Thurston: ‘Professor of Drawing and Painting in every style’. However she was declared bankrupt on 13 December 1855; her debtors included the booksellers Waugh & Cox who had supplied her with painting materials. Undeterred she continued to paint, she exhibited at 1857 Victorian Fine Arts Society in Melbourne, 1866 Melbourne Intercolonial Exhibition which included two watercolour views of Blue Mountains, and she received silver medal for four ‘opaque watercolours of Australian Scenery’ at the 1867 Paris Universal Exhibition. She exhibited several landscapes at the Agricultural Society of New South Wales inaugural exhibition in 1869, including a view painted of ‘Capertee Valley from Crown Ridge on the Sydney-Bathurst Road’. Eliza Thurston died in 1873 and is buried in Balmain Church of England cemetery.

Reference: Dictionary of Australian Artists Online https://www.daao.org.au/bio/eliza-thurston/biography/ (accessed 23/01/2017)

This piece was passed down through the artist’s family, then sold in Sothebys Melbourne in 1988. Trevor Bussell (Showground Gallery) purchased it and sold it to David Ell. It sold in the sale of the David Ell collection in August 1993 as lot 1782. Purchased by Ruth Simons. Sold by Day Fine Art to the State Library of New South Wales from a private collection in Sydney, 2017

Gouache on wove paper, ca. 1864, shows view of Sydney Harbour from the eastern suburbs, with Shark Island in foreground, and city skyline in distance including spire of St James Church. Painting surrounded by shells and seaweed, probably taken from the Sydney area. The painting is adhered to a backing board. It has been painted with base layer washes of broad brush strokes likely with a coarse brush. Details and highlights have then been built up in opaque gouache on top. A variety of types of seaweed and sea shells have been adhered in layers to create a three dimensional border surrounding the painting.

Out of copyright: Creator died before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Due to its fragility, this item is only to be handled by Collection Care.