Arthur Bartholomew

Arthur Bartholomew (3 December 1833 – 19 August 1909) was an English-born Australian engraver, lithographer and natural history illustrator.

Biography

Arthur Bartholomew was born on 3 December 1833 at Bruton in county Somerset, England, the son of a decorator Thomas Bartholomew and Charlotte (née Wright). He was apprenticed to an engraver in Exeter and acquired some training in lithography.

Bartholomew emigrated to Australia aged 18, arriving in Melbourne aboard the Oriental in December 1852. He spent the early period in Australia travelling around, including to Tasmania where he met his future wife, Eliza Nicholls.

After returning to Melbourne, Bartholomew became assistant to the zoologist William Blandowski, producing illustrations for his various projects. In 1856 the Philosophical Institute of Victoria, with financial backing from the colonial government, initiated a scientific expedition to the Murray River led by Blandowski. The expedition camped on the south bank of the Murray River (near the site of present-day Mildura) between December 1856 and April 1857, from where specimens were collected and conveyed to Melbourne.

Prior to Blandowski's departure for the Murray River, Bartholomew travelled to northern Tasmania, where on 26 August 1856 he married Eliza Ann Nicholls at Longford. The couple remained in Tasmania until about mid-1859, where two of their children were born.

Bartholomew's illustrations were "characterised by a fastidious attention to detail and remarkable technical facility". Typically his methodical approach involved the successive application of watercolour glazes to build depth into his colour, occasionally applying layers of varnish if appropriate to the subject. His illustrations were usually completed in the laboratory, using specimens of varying quality and freshness made available to him. Insects and other small creatures were sometimes kept alive in the laboratory to facilitate studies of the live animal.

After McCoy's death in May 1899 Bartholomew retired from the university's Natural History department. He continued to illustrate for the Victorian Museum until his death.

Arthur Bartholomew succumbed to a fatal stroke after a year of illness and died on 19 August 1909, aged 75.

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