James W.R. LINTON
born England 1869 died Australia 1947
Falls Road, late evening 1926 Perth
Based on Marie Louise’s deep knowledge of Western Australian history and her family heritage, the collection covers the period from Western Australia’s beginning as a free-settlement colony in the early mid-nineteenth century, through the importation of convict labour in the 1850s, and the discovery of gold in the 1890s.
It includes rare views of Albany, Augusta, Bunbury, Esperance, Gingin, Rottnest and Toodyay. Her passion for Western Australian colonial furniture was pursued with a singular intensity, with the best aims in mind. These items are highly important for their rarity.
The exhibition is a curatorial selection of work drawn from the National Gallery’s collection, rather than a full survey. Some works by Western Australian artists remain on display in the Gallery’s collection displays of Australian art as well as the newly opened Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander galleries.
The National Gallery of Australia has a responsibility to show the full gamut of Australian art—from all states, over all periods. The exhibition showcases the major group of works that the Gallery has recently purchased alongside works the Gallery has owned for some time. It also complements the rich public and private holdings of Western Australian art held in Perth.
The exhibition follows the National Gallery’s 2010–2011 display Tasmanian Colonial Art 1830–1850, in which recently purchased early Tasmanian works were exhibited alongside works that the Gallery has held for many years.