S.T. Gill The South Australian Years 1839-1852

Adelaide: Art Gallery of South Australia. 1986. Oblong Small Quarto Size [approx 21x26cm]. Very Good condition in Very Good Dustjacket. DJ protected in our purpose-made clear archival plastic sleeve. A nice copy. Illustrated with colour and black & white reproductions. Exhibition catalogue. 120 pages. Gill arrived in Adelaide, aged 21 and established a studio in 1840 calling for those 'desirous of obtaining a correct likeness' of themselves and their families, friends, animals and residences to contact him. His activities soon expanded to include street scenes and public events, including the newly discovered copper mines at Burra Burra as well as the departure of Charles Sturt's expedition for the interior on 8 October 1844. His sketching tours of the districts surrounding Adelaide, produced a number of watercolours. Gill went with John Horrocks' expedition to the Flinders Ranges in 1846 and his watercolours and pencil sketches provide a narrative of this fateful trip, which saw Horrocks die after being accidentally shot. In 1852, following a series of personal tragedies including bankruptcy and ill health, Gill joined a large group of South Australians heading for the Mount Alexander gold fields, Victoria. Originally intending to turn his hand to digging for gold, he soon returned to portraying images of everyday life, depicting life on the gold fields and the emergence of substantial towns like those of Ballarat and Bendigo. . 1st Edition. Hardback.