Sydney Parkinson exhibition on display at Crows Nest Gallery

Published on 15 May 2025

An exhibition of images by Sydney Parkinson, who is credited as being the first European artist to visit and document the land and people across parts of the South Pacific Ocean, is on display at Crows Nest Gallery from May 21 to June 22, 2025.

First Encounters with Sydney Parkinson: From Tahiti to Toowoomba Region contains works by Sydney Parkinson, who was the first European artist to visit Tahiti, Aotearoa-New Zealand and Australia while sailing with his master, the gentleman-scientist Joseph Banks, on HMS Endeavour, under the command of Lieutenant James Cook, from 1768 to 1771.

An original copy of the first edition of Parkinson’s journal, A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas (1773), is housed at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery in the Bolton Reading Room, where it is available to view.

This exhibition features high-resolution enlargements of engravings from Parkinson’s journal and offers visitors a chance to follow parts of his journey across the South Pacific Ocean.

An insight into this remarkable artist will be provided at the exhibition’s Curator’s Talk from 11am on Sunday, May 25, 2025.

Join us to learn about Sydney Parkinson’s journey of first encounters with Bolton Library Services Officer, Jayson Althofer.

For more information, please see: Crows Nest Gallery

Enquiries about the exhibition can be directed to Crows Nest Gallery on (07) 4698 1687 or crowsnestart@tr.qld.gov.au.

Crows Nest Gallery, at the corner of the New England Highway and William Street, Crows Nest is open from 10.30am to 3.30pm Wednesday to Sunday. It is closed on Monday, Tuesday and public holidays.

Images:
1. Sydney PARKINSON (artist) and William BYRNE (engraver) / A view of Endeavour River, on the coast of New Holland … 1773 / in John HAWKESWORTH (editor), An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty … London, 1773 / Lionel Lindsay Gallery and Library Collection – Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery (top)

2. Sydney PARKINSON (artist) and Richard Bernard GODFREY (engraver) / A war canoe, of New Zealand 1773 / in Sydney PARKINSON, A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas … London, 1773 / Lionel Lindsay Gallery and Library Collection – Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery (below)