English-born John Lewin trained as a natural-history painter in London and arrived in Sydney in 1800 with the intention of making his fortune painting and collecting specimens of Australian flora and fauna (particularly birds and insects). He travelled on scientific expeditions around New South Wales and was employed by Governor Lachlan Macquarie as the Colony’s first official artist.
Fish catch and Dawes Point, Sydney Harbour is the earliest known oil painting on canvas in Australia. It depicts fish that could be found at the time in the waters of Sydney Harbour. They include the snapper, hammerhead shark, crimson squirrelfish, estuary perch, rainbow wrasse and sea mullet. Lewin carefully built up layers of oil paint to show the shiny texture of the fish which are carefully arranged in the foreground, suggesting their abundance and the bounty available in the new colony. This painting shows Lewin’s skill for scientific detail and a departure from the traditions of natural history painting. It is also reminiscent of Dutch still life painting and sporting paintings that show a fisherman’s catch which were popular in Britain at the time. The background stretches to Dawes Point, which is where the northern point of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge is located and is the traditional land of the Gadigal people.
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