• George Forsyth’s oil painting of Arthur Head and the Swan River in 1893.
AN almost-forgotten early painting of Arthur Head was the catalyst for a new exhibition of 14 rarely seen artworks by George Forsyth.
The painting, completed before the harbour was even built, was languishing in Fremantle council’s art collection and only came to light when they were relocating the collection to a new building.
Once the frame was removed, the date and Forsyth’s tiny signature were revealed, and its significance became apparent, Fremantle Arts Centre curator André Lipscombe says.
Scattered amongst several collections, Forsyth’s paintings haven’t been displayed as a body of work for 125 years.
“We hope this modest but historically significant exhibition will add to the slender visual record of Fremantle’s history in the days before the prevalence of photography,” Mr Lipscombe says.
“He was a man of ambition and distinction but his life was also marked by tragedy.
“He survived shipwrecks, the death of children, a stabbing, public humiliation and all the while he was sketching and recording his surroundings.”
Born in London, Forsyth came from a working class family and went to sea aged 14.
Arriving in Fremantle in 1896, aged 21, he became a water police constable.
But after his throat was slit in a vicious assault by a convict he left to become assistant port pilot and eventually harbour master.
Forsyth married Marion Henderson, a convict’s daughter, and had four children, two of whom died from illness within eight years.
In 1885 he was fired for allegedly falling asleep on the job, but was possibly a victim of politics and snobbery for his forthright manner and marriage, Mr Lipscombe says.
“He’d married into convict stock and that counted against him…he lost his job and his pension and returned to sea.”
Alongside Pilot Painter is a collection of original 19th century photos of Fremantle Port, and a work by Laurel Nannup showing white men arriving in Fremantle.
A new book about Forsyth’s life by Ian and Ron Forsyth, accompanies the exhibition.
Painter Pilot is at Fremantle Arts Centre until July 21.
Entry is free.
By JENNY D’ANGER