MV TULAGI at Sydney Island
Artist
Brett Hilder
(1911-1981)
Date1959
Object number00031348
NamePainting
MediumWatercolour, paper, wood, glass
DimensionsOverall: 675 × 820 × 55 mm, 6.2 kg
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis watercolour was painted by amateur artist and professional seaman Brett Hilder in 1959 and shows the landing place at the western end of Sydney Island in the Gilbert Islands. The Native Magistrate is shown in the centre. The MV TULAGI is anchored off shore, and Gilbert Islanders are being taken out in surf boats.
HistoryBrett Hilder born in 1911 was the youngest son of renowned watercolourist Jesse Jewhurst Hilder. In 1927 he became a crew member for ships owned by Burns Philp & Co. He traveled extensively to the Dutch East Indies and South Pacific Islands, and eventually became a ship's master. During WWII he taught navigation to Australian air crew and attained the rank of Wing Commander. He flew on Catalina flying boats for the Royal Australian Air Force. After the war Hilder resumed his career as a merchant sea-captain. He was Captain aboard the TULAGI from 1955 to 1961.
During the war Hilder started painting watercolours depicting landscapes, details and portraits of the people and places he visited. He also wrote extensively about navigation and his travels for magazines such as 'Walkabout'. Hilder is the author of numerous books on his own experiences and in 1966 published 'The Heritage of JJ Hilder' a book about his father's art career. This accompanied a national touring exhibition of his father's work organised by the Queensland Art Gallery. Brett Hilder passed away in April 1981.
Sydney Island is part of the Phoenix Group in the Pacific Ocean. It is a coral island that was seized by the British in 1889. Burns Philp and Co purchased the Phoenix Group in 1926, and in 1937 the islands were re-sold to the British Government. They were required to provide settlement for the surplus population of the Gilbert Islands, and 200 were settled on Sydney Island.
Almost 20 years later the British Government decided to move the Sydney Islanders, who had increased in population to over 400, to Gizo Island in the Solomons. The first people were moved between 1955 and 1957, and the remaining 220 were traken off Sydney island on 17 September 1958 aboard Burns Philp's MV TULAGI.
MV TULAGI (2) was built for the company in 1954 and operated until 1971.SignificanceThis painting is representative of the work by prolific amateur painter Brett Hilder, a seaman with Burns Philp and Company. His work offers a valuable and comprehensive record of the experiences of mariners working on commercial vessels between Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Melanesia from the 1930s through to the 1960s.