JOHN SKINNER PROUT British, 1806-1876

W. E. Fuller, Bookseller and Librarian, Collins Street, Hobart (label on the reverse)

Private collection, New South Wales; thence by descent

The grandfather of the present owner of this painting was a friend of the artist. The family had five other paintings by Skinner Prout which were unfortunately burnt in the 1967 bushfires.

Skinner Prout had established a successful career as a painter, lithographer and art teacher in England before his decision to emigrate in 1840. First recorded as a drawing teacher at the age of twenty-two in Penzance, where he had moved from Plymouth, he came from an artistic family. However there is no evidence that he was trained by his uncle, the celebrated English watercolourist Samuel Prout (1783-1852). During the 1830s Prout worked in Bristol and London but, with eight children to support and relatives already settled in New South Wales, Australia must have seemed an attractive prospect.

Prout soon found employment for his various skills in Sydney. As well as sketching around the harbour, he took quite extensive sketching tours. In January 1844 he moved with his family to Van Diemen’s Land, where he spent four years before returning to Europe. However he was not forgotten, for he had many loyal pupils and the local press occasionally reported on his continuing career. He died in London in 1876.

Skinner Prout was one of the first European artists working in Australia to appreciate the unique light and atmosphere of his new homeland. In particular, his smaller on-the-spot sketches such as this self-portrait at work – with his sketchbook, hiking gear and handsome top hat - exhibit an airy freshness quite unusual for his time.