Lot 259
Painted in situ on the Darwin Voyage. On the balance of evidence it is likely the work of Darwin's Australian cabin mate Philip Gidley King (the Younger)
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Notes:
- A view of Brattle Island painted in situ on Darwin's Voyage and probably the work of the Australian Philip Gidley King (the younger) 1817-1904. Displayed in a contemporary Australian frame c.1840. Charles Darwin's voyage of discovery on the H.M.A.S. Beagle between the years 1831 to 1836 led to the publication in 1859 of his seminal work 'On the origin of the species - by means of natural selection' one of the most ground breaking scientific works ever released. His theory of evolution contained therein continues to this day to challenge the various religious perspectives of a divine role in the creation of life, and it was his visit to the Galapagos Islands which fuelled many of his revolutionary ideas. On evidence it would appear that this important watercolour of Brattle Island, part of the Galapagos Archipelago, was painted in situ by an Australian, Philip Gidley King (the younger) on or around Saturday, the 17th October, 1835 which is identified in the ship's log as the day the Beagle passed the island. King, who was born in Parramatta, was named after his grandfather the third Governor of New South Wales and had served as a cabin boy to his father Captain Phillip Parker King on the the H.M.S. Adventure which in tandem with the H.M.S. Beagle had plotted the coastline around the Straits of Magellan. He sailed under Captain Robert Fitzroy on the Beagle's second voyage as a midshipman and was a close friend and cabin mate of Darwin for most of the journey. King left the Beagle when the ship called in to his home town of Sydney. The work, although unsigned, can be confidently attributed to King the amateur watercolorist who was increasingly relied upon by Fitzroy as an artist after the official draughtsmen Augustus Earle and Conrad Martens had both retired early from the voyage. In his journal entry of June 6th, 1835, Fitzroy directs Lieutenant Sullivan of the Beagle to take temporary command of the schooner Constitucion so that it can survey parts of the coast of Chile. He records that 'on so straight a coast, subject to the continuance of cloudy weather, views of the land may be considered useful. Mr King is added to your party, because he draws such views very correctly.' King rejoined the Beagle in late July 1835, and as the only 'artist' on board at the time of the Galapagos visit, it is more than likely that this 18 year old midshipman was responsible for the 'view' of Brattle Island so adeptly painted in mid October, 1835. This provenance is reinforced by the discovery of the painting in Sydney and its housing in a contemporary Australian frame which can be dated to the 1840s. Similar frames surround a contemporaneous collection of paintings in the possession of St Joseph's College at Hunters Hill, Sydney. After his visit to Australia on the Beagle, Charles Darwin remained intensely interested in the country's progress and continued to correspond with old shipmates who had settled there including Philip Gidley King who remained a lifelong friend.
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