Painter, was born in Liverpool and arrived in Australia in 1885. He was a prominent figure in the Adelaide art scene of the late 1800s and Foundation President of the Adelaide Easel Club in 1895. As described in a newspaper review in 1897, Wadham and his brother Alfred (Wadham) Sinclair, had originally 'travelled to the colonies in search of the picturesque’ ( Register 5 April 1897). Gold discoveries took Wadham and Sinclair to Kalgoorlie in 1896; on returning to Adelaide they held an exhibition of their WA paintings, which was opened by Governor Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton. Three watercolour on gouache paintings in the Sotheby’s Australia 2000 auction date from that period: Lake View and Boulder East Battery n.d. (47 × 73.5 cm), The Great Boulder 1896 (43.5 × 70 cm, title and date lhs) and Evening Camp Scene n.d. (48 × 73 cm). All three were purchased, probably in 1897, by Charles de Rose and remained in the family until sold at auction in 1976 (then private collection and Sotheby’s 'Australia 2000’ sale). While the camp scene is a characteristically picturesque grey and white scene with a glowing red setting sun and various camp and bush fires, the mining scenes were primarily informative. The Register noted:

Mr. Wadham’s big picture “The Great Boulder” taken from the Lake View mine works showing the sheds and shafts, will one day become historic – nay, it is that now to a certain extent. A mining town in its pinafore, so to speak, is not particularly picturesque, but practical rather; however the artist has made the most of his subject, and his work will find favour as a reminisence in pigments

Writers:

Staff Writer

Date written:

1999

Last updated:

2011