This exhibition celebrates the artistic legacy of Albany/Kinjarling through the work of significant local and regional artists held within the Albany Historical Society collection.

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Featured are the paintings of the Batelier Brothers, whose works vividly record Albany’s maritime history in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the port was the busiest in Western Australia. Their scenes capture the rhythm, labour and significance of a working harbour central to the region’s development.

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Also represented is Brenda Holland, a leading portrait artist and respected educator, whose work is recognised nationally and included in the catalogue of the Archibald Prize. Her portraits reflect a sensitivity to character and place.

 

The exhibition includes works by George Bourne, a premier maritime artist whose paintings continue to command tens of thousands of  dollars, and John Barker, whose imagery captures the harsh realities and resilience of early colonial life.

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Drawn from the Society’s archives, this carefully curated exhibition features watercolours, sketches, illustrations, postcards and early settler depictions—many shown publicly for the first time. Together, they offer an immersive journey through 200 years of artistic expression in Albany and the Great Southern region.

 

Opened on 21 January 2026, to coincide with the 199th anniversary of the first European and Aboriginal settlement in Western Australia, this ambitious bicentenary project marks a major milestone for the Albany Historical Society.

 

Running throughout 2026 and 2027, the exhibition invites locals and visitors to engage with Western Australia’s cultural heritage and experience the enduring power of art as record, reflection and inspiration.