National Gallery of Australia | Audio Tour | Ocean to Outback: Australian Landscape Painting 1850–1950

The wreck of the George the Third depicts the aftermath of the shipwreck in 1835 of the George the Third off the coast of Tasmania. Following a four-month voyage from London and bound for Hobart, the 35-metre convict transport ship entered D’Entrecasteaux Channel on the evening of 12 April 1835. Less than 200 kilometres from its destination, the ship struck submerged rock and in the catastrophe that followed 127 of the 220 convicts on board died.1 Survivors’ accounts said the ship’s crew fired their weapons at convicts who, in a state of panic, attempted to break from their confines as the vessel went down. Painted by convict-artist Knut Bull, this image is dominated by a huge sky, with the broken George the Third dwarfed by the expanse. Waves continue to crash over the decks of the ship, while a few figures in the foreground attempt to salvage cargo and supplies. This is a seascape that evokes trepidation and anxiety. The small figures contribute to the feeling of human vulnerability when faced with the ext

Grace Cossington Smith’s The Bridge in building is a dynamic image of one of Australia’s most iconic landmarks under construction. One of a number of artists who recorded the development of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Cossington Smith transformed the scene into a synthesis of industry and nature – of modern construction observed through radiating colour and bands of light. In The Bridge in building Cossington Smith has used contrasting colours of purple and orange to depict the angular structures of the bridge and crane. The sky is formed by concentric bands of luminous yellows and blues, with each brushstroke carefully placed on the canvas. Between 1928 and 1930 Cossington Smith made a number of sketches of the bridge from Milson’s Point on the northern side of Sydney Harbour. She created ‘map-like’ drawings, carefully annotated with notes on colour and form. These studies were used to develop paintings of the bridge, such as The Bridge in-curve c.1930 (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne). Cossington Sm