Title
Whalers off Twofold Bay, New South Wales
1867
Artist
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Details
- Other Titles
- South Sea Whaling
Final Flurry
Whaling
Whalers coming out of Twofold Bay - Place where the work was made
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Australia
- Date
- 1867
- Media category
- Watercolour
- Materials used
- watercolour with white highlights and scraping out
- Dimensions
- 86.3 x 147.5 cm image (made up of 2 sheets of paper joined together); 107.6 x 169.1 x 5.0 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed and dated l.l. corner, red watercolour "O.W. BRIERLY/ 1867".
- Credit
- Purchased 1901
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 6294
- Copyright
- Artist information
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Sir Oswald Brierly
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
The Yuin people had long-held traditions of whale hunting at Twofold Bay, on the far south coast of New South Wales. They collaborated with orcas, or killer whales, who herded larger cetaceans into the bay for a shared harvest. By the 1840s, whaling had become a colonial industry in the region and these hunting partnerships were increasingly displaced by commercial slaughter.
Oswald Brierly arrived in Australia in 1842 with the entrepreneur, and later pastoralist and notorious slave owner, Benjamin Boyd. Boyd established a whaling operation at Twofold Bay a few years later, appointing Brierly as his manager. Brierly returned to England in 1851, where he became a celebrated marine painter who often depicted his colonial experiences. In this watercolour he paints the whale as a fearsome opponent, fighting with the last vestiges of a thrashing strength. Brierly’s portrait of depletion is perhaps, strangely, also one of fortitude and resistance.
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Places
Where the work was made
Australia
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Exhibition history
Shown in 11 exhibitions
4th General Exhibition of Water Colour Drawings, Dudley Gallery, London, Feb 1868–Mar 1868
Australian watercolours from the National Art Gallery collection 1836-1946, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 24 May 1946–Jun 1946
100 years of Australian painting (1948), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 19 Apr 1948–17 May 1948
Western European and Australian drawings XVI-XX century, from Australian museums, State Hermitage Museum, Russia, Dec 1978–Feb 1979
Two centuries of Australian painting, a selection from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, 19 Apr 1986–15 Jun 1986
Nineteenth century Australian watercolours from the collection (1991), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 13 Apr 1991–07 Jul 1991
British and European watercolours - the first thirty years of the collection 1875-1906, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 13 Apr 1996–02 Jun 1996
Romancing the sea; drama in early Australian maritime art, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, 19 May 2000–25 Jun 2000
19th century Australian watercolours, drawings & pastels, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 06 Apr 2005–24 Jul 2005
Victorian watercolours, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 02 Jun 2017–03 Dec 2017
Grand Courts collection rehang, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Nov 2021–2023
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Bibliography
Referenced in 21 publications
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Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Sydney, 1972, 67 (colour illus.).
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Marnie Bassett, Behind the picture: HMS Rattlesnake's Australia-New Guinea cruise 1846 to 1850, Melbourne, 1966, 32 (illus.). plate no. 8
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Jean Campbell, Australian watercolour painters: 1780 to the present day, 'Sir Oswald Brierly', pg. 31-33, Sydney, 1989, 32, 33 (colour illus.).
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William J Dakin, Whalemen adventurers, Sydney, 1934, opposite pg. iii (illus.).
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Deborah Edwards, Two centuries of Australian painting: a selection from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Introduction', pg. 8-14, Sydney, 1986, 17 (illus.). cat.no. 4
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Bruce James, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian Collection: Works on Paper', pg. 182-197, Sydney, 1999, 187 (colour illus.).
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Shar Jones, Early painters of Australia, 1788-1880, Sydney, 1988, 122 (illus.). plate no. 91
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Hendrik Kolenberg, Nineteenth century Australian watercolours from the collection, Sydney, 1991. cat.no. 10
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Hendrik Kolenberg, 19th century Australian watercolours, drawing and pastels from the Gallery's collection, 'Introduction', pg. 6-16, Sydney, 2005, 10, 11 (colour illus., detail), 58, 59 (colour illus.).
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Alan Moorehead, The fatal impact: an account of the invasion of the South Pacific 1767-1840, London, 1966, between pgs. 178 & 179 (illus.).
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Peter Raissis, Victorian watercolours from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2017, pp 36–38, col illus pp 37 (detail), 38.
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Bernard Smith, 100 years of Australian painting, 'Foreword', pg. 2-4, Sydney, 1948, 13. watercolours cat.no. 4; titled 'South Sea Whaling'
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Martin Terry, Maritime paintings of early Australia 1788-1900, 'Explorers and Surveyors', pg. 20-31, Carlton South, 1998, 24-25 (colour illus.). plate no. 19
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Trustees of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australian watercolours from the National Art Gallery collection 1836 to 1946, Sydney, 1946, 3-4, 8. cat.no. 3; titled 'South Sea Whaling'
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National Art Gallery of NSW illustrated catalogue, Sydney, 1917, 82. cat.no. 116. Revised editions 1918, 1919.
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The Australian Town and Country Journal, vol 73, no 1908.1, Sydney, 29 Aug 1906, 28–29, 29 (illus.). 'The whalers of Twofold Bay'
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National Art Gallery of NSW illustrated catalogue, Sydney, 1906, 91. cat.no. 126. Revised editions 1908, 1910, 1912.
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National Art Gallery of NSW illustrated catalogue, Sydney, 1924, 82. cat.no. 42.
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Illustrated London News, no 1475, London, 28 Mar 1868, 310 (illus.).
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National Art Gallery of New South Wales illustrated catalogue, Sydney, 1925, 83. cat.no. 39. Revised edition 1926.
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National Art Gallery of NSW illustrated catalogue, Sydney, 1921, 69. cat.no. 41
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Provenance
R.T. Carter, pre 1901, Sydney/New South Wales/Australia, Robert Thomas Carter of Claines was the principal dealer of Brierly's work in late 19th-early 20th c in Australia.
