Free for educational use
First Fleet Sketches
Year of production - 2008
Duration - 5min 30sec
Tags - botanical, colonisation, discovery, environment, exploration, sketchbooks, see all tags
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From the series Hidden Treasures – Inside the National Library of Australia.
The National Library of Australia is the country’s largest reference library with over nine million items in its collection, including a surprising number of art works. In a new series of Hidden Treasures, Betty Churcher presents an insider’s guide to some of the little known and rarely displayed art treasures held by the National Library. From her unique vantage point, Churcher makes intriguing historical connections between paintings and engravings, photography, manuscripts and artefacts, illustrated journals and diaries. These are fascinating tales about the creative process and the works themselves that offer a tantalising insight into Australia’s culture and heritage.
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Early Works. Produced in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. With special thanks to the National Library of Australia.
- Knowing and understanding historical events.
- Using evidence to assist in the drawing of conclusions and understanding of the past.
- Demonstrate an understanding of motivation, causation and empathy to assist one in drawing conclusions about the past.
First Fleet captain John Hunter copied the work of young First Fleet midshipman George Raper to produce his famous sketchbook showing life in Botany Bay. Raper’s own First Fleet paintings, begun in 1788, show his skill and fine eye for detail in capturing the birds and flowers of New South Wales. They were acquired by the National Library of Australia in 2004 after lying undiscovered and undisturbed for more than 200 years in an English manor. While Hunter, who became the second Governor of NSW, didn’t share Raper’s talents with a paintbrush, both men shared equally an excitement and enthusiasm for recording what they found in Sydney Cove in 1788.
- Why would people of the First Fleet have wanted to record the flora and fauna that they saw?
- What impact might the publication of these and other similar sketches have had on people in Britain and elsewhere?
- Can you think of any similar example of something new and totally different that might exist in our society today, or in the near future?
- The argument is sometimes made that the earliest European-trained artists who saw the Australian landscape were not able to paint it—they applied their European expectations and traditions and failed to reproduce the Australian reality. Does this ‘treasure’ support or challenge this idea? Explain your reasons.
- Summarise in just one or two sentences why this collection is a ‘treasure’ in our knowledge and understanding of aspects of Australian history.
Go to Screen Australia Digital Learning’s Arts Portal
For more on John Hunter go to The Australian Dictionary of Biography
For more on George Raper go to The George Raper Collection