Title

Charles Rodius, convict artist.

Author

Stevens, Robert.

Source

Australiana Magazine. Sydney: Australiana Society, 1985 - ongoing.

Details

volume 42, number 1, February 2020, pages 17-42

Publication date

February 2020

Type

Article

Language

English

Country of context

Australia

Abstract

Charles Rodius began his prolific art career in Paris and London. Convicted of thefts in 1829, he was transported to Sydney, where the convict artist produced landscapes, portraits of leading Sydney settlers as well as notable portraits of Aboriginal people, many translated into lithographs. Rodius had a good singing voice. From 1839, aged about 37, he began to suffer a series of strokes that severely affected his ability to draw. To compete with the new technique of popular, cheap but generally unsympathetic photographic portraits, in 1850 he travelled through NSW and Victoria offering his emotive hand-drawn portraits. Robert Stevens analyses his career in more detail than previously, alongside a selection of images from his large output.

[Australiana abstract 2020]

Last Updated

26 Jun 2025