Title

Rat's castle, Hobart

circa 1919

Artist

Blamire Young

Australia

1862 – 1935

Details

Other Title

Rat's Castle, Hobart

Date

circa 1919

Media category

Watercolour

Materials used

watercolour

Dimensions

46.7 x 59.2 cm sight; 67.0 x 78.0 x 4.0 cm frame

Signature & date

Not signed. Not dated.

Credit

Purchased 1923

Location

Not on display

Accession number

4825

Copyright

Reproduction requests

Artist information

Blamire Young
Works in the collection

12

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About

'Rat's castle' is one of the best-known watercolours in the Gallery's collection. The building stood on the corner of Elizabeth and Brisbane Streets, Hobart between 1820 and 1880 before it was demolished, well before Blamire Young's first visit to Tasmania in 1911-12, so it's probable inspiration was a photograph. It had served variously as a police office, place of worship and a school for young ladies, before eventually becoming a refuge for derelicts, when it earned the moniker 'Rat's castle'. The building's colourful history obviously appealed to Young's romantic imagination, and the watercolour is a portrait of a building as individual as any human portrait.

© Australian Art Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2000
Exhibition history
Shown in 14 exhibitions
- Watercolours by Blamire Young, Fine Art Society PLC, London, Oct 1920 -
- Exhibition of watercolour drawings, Joshua Yeldham, Bayview, 18 Jun 1923–30 Jun 1923
- 150 years of Australian art (1938), National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 27 Jan 1938–25 Apr 1938
- Art of Australia 1788-1941:
  - National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. 01 Oct 1941–26 Oct 1941
  - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 17 Nov 1941–31 Dec 1941
  - National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ottawa 15 Jan 1942–15 Feb 1942
  - Yale University Art Gallery, United States of America 02 Mar 1942–23 Mar 1942
  - Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh 03 Apr 1942–15 May 1942
  - Wilmington Society of Fine Arts, Wilmington 01 Jun 1942–27 Jun 1942
  - Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles 10 Jul 1942–27 Aug 1942
  - Toledo Museum of Art, United States of America 06 Sep 1942–27 Sep 1942
  - Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester 05 Oct 1942–02 Nov 1942
  - Cleveland Museum of Art, United States of America 09 Nov 1942–07 Dec 1942
  - Detroit Institiute of Arts, Detroit 01 Jan 1943–29 Jan 1943
  - The Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto 05 Feb 1943–28 Feb 1943
  - Art Association of Montreal, Montreal 07 Mar 1943–28 Mar 1943
  - Herron Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indianapolis 08 Apr 1943–05 May 1943
  - Fort Wayne Art School and Museum, Fort Wayne 12 May 1943–31 May 1943
  - Rockhill Nelson Gallery, Kansas City 07 Sep 1943–08 Oct 1943
  - Philbrook Art Museum, Tulsa 20 Oct 1943–17 Nov 1943
  - Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Dallas 28 Nov 1943–26 Dec 1943
  - Abilene Museum of Fine Arts, Abilene 10 Jan 1944–07 Feb 1944
  - Heard Museum, Phoenix Fine Arts Association, Phoenix 21 Feb 1944–20 Mar 1944
  - San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco 04 Apr 1944–07 May 1944
  - Rosicrucian Egyptian Oriental Museum, San Jose 19 May 1944–16 Jun 1944
  - Hamline University, St Paul 01 Dec 1944–17 Dec 1944
  - Society Liberal Arts, Joslyn Memorial, Omaha 06 Jan 1945–27 Jan 1945
  - Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, United States of America 06 Feb 1945–27 Feb 1945
  - Quincy Art Club, Quincy 09 Mar 1945–30 Mar 1945
  - Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City 13 Apr 1945–04 May 1945
  - University of Oklahoma, Norman 14 May 1945–04 Jun 1945
  - North Texas State Teachers' College, Denton 14 Jun 1945–05 Jul 1945
- Australian watercolours from the National Art Gallery collection 1836-1946, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 24 May 1946–Jun 1946
- An historical survey of Australian watercolour painting:
  - Katoomba Town Hall, Katoomba 06 Mar 1951–20 Mar 1951
  - Lithgow Council Chambers, Lithgow 03 Apr 1951–17 Apr 1951
  - Cowra Town Hall, Cowra 22 May 1951–05 Jun 1951
  - Grenfell Council Chambers, Grenfell 19 Jun 1951–03 Jul 1951
  - Young Public Library, Young 14 Aug 1951–28 Aug 1951
  - Cootamundra Council Chambers, Cootamundra 18 Sep 1951–02 Oct 1951
  - Wagga Wagga Council Chambers, Wagga Wagga 20 Oct 1951–30 Oct 1951
- Australian Watercolour Institute 50th Annual Exhibition (1973), Farmer's Blaxland Gallery, Sydney, 14 Sep 1973–28 Sep 1973
- The Australian Landscape 1802-1975:
  - Cultural Palace of the Nationalities, Beijing 02 Sep 1975–17 Sep 1975
  - Kiangsu Art Gallery, China 23 Sep 1975–07 Oct 1975
  - Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 14 Nov 1975–30 Nov 1975
- J.J. Hilder and Contemporaries:
  - Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 29 Aug 1981–04 Oct 1981
  - Tamworth City Gallery, Tamworth 04 Apr 1982–24 Apr 1982
  - Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle 06 May 1982–30 May 1982
  - Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong 02 Jun 1982–14 Jul 1982
  - Albury Regional Gallery, Albury 09 Sep 1982–26 Sep 1982
- The art of Blamire Young:
  - S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks 04 Aug 1983–11 Sep 1983
  - National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne 16 Sep 1983–16 Oct 1983
- Twentieth century Australian watercolours from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 05 Apr 1989–25 Jun 1989
- Australian watercolours 1880s to 1990s:
  - Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 18 Nov 1995–14 Jan 1996
  - Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat 1996–1996
  - Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart 1996–1996
- Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003
- In search of the picturesque - the architectural ruin in art, Geelong Art Gallery, Geelong, 21 Apr 2011–24 Jun 2011
Bibliography
Referenced in 15 publications
- Jean Campbell, Australian watercolour painters: 1780 to the present day, 'The twentieth century to 1914', pg. 92-109, Sydney, 1989, 95 (colour illus.).
- Elly Fink, The art of Blamire Young, Sydney, 1983, 49 (colour illus.). plate no. 28
- Gavin Fry, Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, 'J.J. Hilder / Blamire Young / Norman Lindsay', pg. 72-87, Sydney, 2002, 75, 79 (colour illus.), 146, 147.
- Colin Holden (Curator), In search of the picturesque– the achitectural ruin in art, Geelong, 2012, n.pag.. cat.no. 71
- Hendrik Kolenberg., Look, 'The art of Australian watercolour', Heidelberg, Apr 1989, 20 (colour illus.).
- Hendrik Kolenberg, Twentieth century Australian watercolours from the collection, Sydney, 1989, cover (colour illus.). cat.no. 83
- Hendrik Kolenberg, Australian watercolours 1880s to 1990s, 'Introduction: Painting in watercolour', pg. 8-16, Sydney, 1995, 12, 37 (colour illus.), 117. cat.no. 25
- Lionel Lindsay, 150 years of Australian art, Sydney, 1938. cat.no. 362 [Gallery No. 4]
- Lionel Lindsay., Art in Australia [series 3, no. 70], 'Exhibition of 150 years of Australian Art', Sydney, Mar 1938, 45 (illus.).
- Elwyn Lynn, The Australian landscape and its artists, Rushcutters Bay, 1977, 55 (colour illus.).
- Ewen McDonald, AGNSW Collections, 'From Colonialism to late Modernism', pg. 7-106, Sydney, 1994, 28, 29 (colour illus.).
- William Moore, The story of Australian art from the earliest known art of the continent to the art of today (Vol. 1), 'Galleries', pg. 179-214, Sydney, 1934, illus..
- Ursula Prunster and Edmund Capon AM, OBE, J.J. Hilder and contemporaries, Sydney, 1981, illus.. cat.no. 39
- Trustees of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australian watercolours from the National Art Gallery collection 1836 to 1946, Sydney, 1946, 10. cat.no. 25
- Sydney Ure Smith (Editor), Art of Australia 1788-1941, New York, 1941, 33, (illus.). cat.no. 40