Lot 1225
JOHN SKINNER PROUT (1805-1876)
A ROCKY BAY, WITH MOUNTAINS BEYOND
Signed, watercolour
19.5 x 30.5cm.
* The subject, which is laid down, is not readily identifiable. Prout moved from his native Plymouth to Australia in 1840 and held a number of exhibitions in and around Sydney. By 1844, he realised that indigenous artists were gaining a stronger market so he moved his family to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania). He found greater success there and benefited from the patronage of the Governor Sir John Franklin. However, Prout returned to Britain in June 1848.
Dr Mary Knights, Senior Curator at The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, on the basis of a photograph, comments that it is `unlikely that this painting depicts a Tasmanian scene`. She observes that `the mountains appear to be tall, sharp peaks, with snow coverage relatively close to sea-level` and that `the colours are quite different from those in Prout's other works here in the [Gallery's] collection`. A colleague of Dr Knights expressed similar doubts and does not recognise the mountain range. He doubts that it is Tasmania but, if it is, he comments that `it would be most likely West Coast because of the shape of the peaks - not dolerite - and the snow that close to the coast`. He ends by observing that `the sea stack in the lower left is a classic Scottish landscape feature, though they do occur here too.`
Joshua Bell, Reference Librarian at The National Library of Australia, also from a photograph, notes that `the mountains in the background are quite sheer ... and do not look like they are from Australia. However, early works of Australia occasionally depicted the Australian landscape with a European aesthetic, so it is possible that it is a picture of mountains in Tasmania where [Prout] is known to have created work. However, it does not look like a recognizable view from Australia.`
We are grateful to Dr Mary Knights and to Joshua Bell for their help with the cataloguing of this watercolour.
