History Archives - Royal South Australian Society of Arts

Paintings and Photography by members of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts

For over 160 years Port Adelaide and its surrounds has been a busy commercial and residential area welcoming incoming sailors, migrants and tourists. For many years small groups of members of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts have met to paint and photograph the river, the boats and surrounding commercial and private buildings.

The works in this exhibition are a collection from artists from the past and those still creating today, using a variety of mediums – pencil, oil, acrylic and camera to record the ever changing and yet timelessness of the Port. Some works are borrowed from private collections, others are for sale.

A catalogue of exhibited works is available.

Gordon MARK (1920-2016), *Wheat Silos, Port Adelaide, 1992*, oil

Where: Visitors Information Centre, Commercial Rd, Port Adelaide
Saturday May 1 – Sunday May 30, 2021 Hours: Wed-Sun 10:00am – 5:00pm, Mon-Tues CLOSED.

Pioneer posters will make a welcome return to the 2021 History Festival, but this year’s exhibition will have an added dimension from those of previous years. The Pioneers Association of South Australia is joining forces with the Royal SA Society of Arts (RSASA) in April-May to display over 50 pioneer posters some new, some written earlier, in the society’s gallery on North Terrace. They will be hung alongside works of art created by the artist members of the RSASA, enhancing the pioneer stories.

Inspiration drawn from biographies in the collection of the Pioneers Association of South Australia has resulted in members of the Royal South Australian Society of the Arts making accompanying artworks reflecting the pioneer stories.

The relationship between the oldest art society in South Australia (and Australia; established in 1856) with the oldest continuing SA History Association (established in 1935), in the gallery of the oldest cultural building on North Terrace (constructed in 1860) will provide a unique perspective to this exhibition which will run from 24 April until 22 May with free entry.

Dates and Times
Daily from 24 April to 22 May (except for Sundays); Monday to Friday 10.30am – 3.30pm, Saturday 1.00pm – 3.30pm

Venue
The Gallery of the Royal SA Society of Arts, 1st floor, Institute building, Corner of North Terrace and Kintore Avenue, Adelaide.

The Society was established in 1856. There have been several accounts of the history of art in SA in Colonial and Victorian times, but the first comprehensive overview was published in the newspapers, penned by Mary A Overbury, in 1898.

Below are pages from a newspaper profile of prominent artists until that time: