John Paine
(England, Australia 1834–1915)
- Title
- Grand Arch, looking east
- Year
- 1880s
- Media category
- Photograph
- Materials used
- albumen photograph
- Dimensions
-
14.8 x 20.1cm image/sheet
- Signature & date
- Signed l.l. image, [inscribed on glass plate negative] "J.P.". Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1989
- Accession number
- 217.1989
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
John Paine’s photograph of the Grand Arch at Jenolan Caves in New South Wales represents a conjuncture of two important representational modes, both of which helped shape 19th-century art: the picturesque and the sublime. The caves, first discovered in 1838, saw a massive increase in tourism as the result of rail improvements. Picturesque postcard views, sold as tourist mementos, were produced to service this market. Paine’s photograph, however, is clearly more than this. The vast cave and the small figure bathed in light on the rocky outcrop evoke the tradition of the sublime, the central motifs of which were the colossal and the powerful, often represented by mountains or storms. The subject of the artwork – and indeed the viewer – was not to be instructed or pleased, but overcome and transformed. While key elements of this aesthetic are present here, Paine’s ‘Grand Arch, looking east’ still illustrates a landscape tamed and one in which social order is subtly replicated: gentlemen at the top, tradesmen in the middle and women-folk at the bottom.
© Art Gallery of New South Wales Photography Collection Handbook, 2007
- Bibliography (4)
-
7079 (Editor), Photography: Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection, 2007, 46 (illus.).
'Arcadia: Nineteenth Century Australian Photography' by Robyn Donohue, pg. 22-23., Look Oct 1998, Oct 1998, 23 (illus.).
Robyn Donohue (Australia) (Author), Arcadia - nineteenth century Australian photography, North Sydney, 1998. no catalogue numbers
Josef Lebovic Gallery (Australia, estab. 1977) (Author), Helen Ennis (Australia) (Author), Masterpieces of Australian Photography, Sydney, 1989, 110, 111 (illus.). cat.no. 195
- Exhibition history (2)
-
Masterpieces of Australian Photography, Josef Lebovic Gallery, 24 Jun 1989–22 Jul 1989.
Arcadia: nineteenth century Australian photography, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 02 Oct 1998–13 Dec 1998.
