(attr.to) Watling, Thomas Paintings

Thomas Watling was a Scottish-born artist who is recognized as one of the first professional artists to reside and work in Australia. Born in Dumfries, Scotland, in 1762, Watling was trained as an artist and worked as a portrait painter before his life took an unexpected turn. He was convicted of forgery, which was a serious crime at the time, and was sentenced to transportation to Australia as a convict. This punishment effectively marked the beginning of his significant contribution to the art of the early colony.

Arriving in the penal colony of New South Wales in 1792, Watling was assigned to work with John White, the Surgeon General. White was interested in natural history and saw Watling's artistic skills as valuable for documenting the flora and fauna of the new territory. During his time in Australia, Watling produced a large body of work, including landscapes, portraits, and detailed illustrations of plants and animals. His work is particularly notable for providing a visual record of the early colony and the natural environment of Australia at the time.

Watling's contributions were significant in that they provided Europeans with some of the first visual representations of Australian subjects. After serving his sentence, Watling continued to live in Australia and work as an artist until his death in 1824. His legacy lives on through his artworks, which are held in various collections, including those of the National Library of Australia and the Natural History Museum in London. These works not only serve as historical documents but also as artistic expressions of a world that was largely unknown to many of his contemporaries in Europe.