Maritime Paintings of Early Australia 1788-1900

The Miegunyah Press / Melbourne University Press, Victoria, 1998. Good secondhand copy.

Maritime painting in Australia began with the First Fleet and for many years reflected some of the European traditions of the genre. But Australia presented its early artists with problems and challenges that called for a different approach. For the early colonists the ocean often provoked feelings of separation and isolation. Not surprisingly, many early maritime artists painted not on the shore looking towards the sea, but on ships looking towards the shore. As the colonies became established, however, the sea also came to represent prosperity, and maritime art in Australia burgeoned with the development of whaling and the growth of trade.