Heroes of Colonial Encounters - Captain James Cook

Artist Helen S Tiernan (born 1952)

Date2017

Object number00055149

NamePainting

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 305 × 305 × 40 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionAn oil painting of Captain James Cook by artist Helen S Tiernan as part of a series of works titled 'Heroes of Colonial Encounters'. Captain Cook is depicted in a relaxed yet traditional pose, wearing his familiar naval uniform. In this image however, Cook is shown holding an Indigenous boomerang and spear in his gloveless hand, cultural objects out of place against Cook's sword and gold braiding.HistoryThis painting of James Cook by Helen S Tiernan is based on a 1782 portrait by John Webber. In this original portrait, Cook is depicted holding a telescope in his hand rather than a boomerang and spear. Captain James Cook was an extraordinary navigator and seaman. On his first expedition from Britain in 1768 he would reach the southern coast of New South Wales. Once there he in 1770 he sailed north, charting Australia’s eastern coastline as he went, the first known European to do so. As part of a series of portraits that make up 'Heroes of Colonial Encounters', this portrait of Ballodere is part of Helen Tiernan's exploration of the singular European view of colonial history and the way Indigenous peoples are depicted as the 'primitive' or 'other'. The portraits she paints of Bennelong, Bungaree, Colby, Bidgee Bidgee, Ballodere and Tommy sees them treated equally as their European contemporaries such as Cook, Joseph Banks, William Bligh, Arthur Philip and Matthew Flinders. All portraits are to hang together on the same wall, equally ornate, equal in style and equal in history. SignificanceThis work is significant in providing a dual perspective of histories and first encounters in Australia and through the Pacific. Most post-colonial art takes its subject from earlier colonial times, but this doesn’t mean their interests are purely historical. To the contrary, the point of post-colonialism is to show how many unresolved issues from colonial history are embedded in the present.