Liardet's Water-Colours Of Early Melbourne
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Edition: First Edition Thus
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Good
Few visual records capture the raw, nascent energy of a colonial city quite like the watercolours of Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet, an English-born artist who documented the fledgling settlement of Melbourne during its earliest and most formative decades. Liardet's Water-colours of Early Melbourne presents a remarkable collection of his paintings, offering an unparalleled window into Port Phillip's transformation from a rough riverside camp into the beginnings of a thriving metropolis. Each work chronicles the architectural, social, and environmental landscape of the 1840s and 1850s with the immediacy of an eyewitness account, capturing wharves, streets, and settlers with vivid authenticity. The collection stands as an irreplaceable primary source for anyone passionate about the origins of one of Australia's greatest cities. Beyond their historical value, Liardet's watercolours possess a disarming charm — a settler's earnest, sometimes naive, yet deeply affectionate gaze upon a world being built from the ground up. This volume situates his work within the broader context of colonial Australian art, arguing for his significance not merely as a historical documentarian but as a genuine artistic voice of the frontier. The accompanying text provides scholarly insight into the provenance and context of each work, enriching the visual narrative with historical depth. For historians, art lovers, and anyone captivated by Melbourne's storied past, this collection raises a tantalising question: what else might we discover in the brushstrokes of those who witnessed history being made?
Author: Susan Adams Weston Bate
Format: Hardback
Published: 1972, Melbourne University Press
Genre: Australian history
Edition: First Edition Thus
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Good
Few visual records capture the raw, nascent energy of a colonial city quite like the watercolours of Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet, an English-born artist who documented the fledgling settlement of Melbourne during its earliest and most formative decades. Liardet's Water-colours of Early Melbourne presents a remarkable collection of his paintings, offering an unparalleled window into Port Phillip's transformation from a rough riverside camp into the beginnings of a thriving metropolis. Each work chronicles the architectural, social, and environmental landscape of the 1840s and 1850s with the immediacy of an eyewitness account, capturing wharves, streets, and settlers with vivid authenticity. The collection stands as an irreplaceable primary source for anyone passionate about the origins of one of Australia's greatest cities. Beyond their historical value, Liardet's watercolours possess a disarming charm — a settler's earnest, sometimes naive, yet deeply affectionate gaze upon a world being built from the ground up. This volume situates his work within the broader context of colonial Australian art, arguing for his significance not merely as a historical documentarian but as a genuine artistic voice of the frontier. The accompanying text provides scholarly insight into the provenance and context of each work, enriching the visual narrative with historical depth. For historians, art lovers, and anyone captivated by Melbourne's storied past, this collection raises a tantalising question: what else might we discover in the brushstrokes of those who witnessed history being made?