Sturt's Overland Expedition leaving Adelaide, 10th August, 1844

The name Samuel Thomas Gill is synonymous with nineteenth-century representations of Australian life. Gill immigrated to Adelaide with his father in 1839, just five years after the proclamation of the Province of South Australia. In Adelaide, Gill completed commissions of portraits and watercolours of local scenery, illustrating daily life as well as important moments in the history of the state. After developing an interest in the new medium of photography, Gill purchased a daguerreotype camera in 1846 but achieved little financial success with this venture before catching gold fever in 1851, when  gold was discovered in Central Victoria.

Gill’s largest known watercolour, this work depicts one of the most important days in the colonial history of South Australia – Charles Sturt’s expedition into central South Australia in search of an inland sea. The day was declared a public holiday and a community breakfast was held before the expedition set off. The procession is shown turning from Grenfell Street into King William Street. While Gill’s painting speaks of a momentous occasion, it is the minutiae of the individual figures and activities which entice us. Gill shows men and women from all walks of life enjoying the spectacle of ladies and gentlemen in their finery, working men and children and various animals. Significantly, Gill has included two family groups of Kaurna people in the foreground of the image, making them clearly visible in this vignette of South Australian history.

Tansy Curtin, Curator, International Art pre-1980