In early 1842, William Nicholas placed an advertisement in the Sydney Herald offering his services as a 'miniature painter on ivory and in watercolours, a lithographer and draughtsman'. In 1847, a review of the inaugural exhibition of the Society for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in Australia, in which Nicholas exhibited, described him as 'the best portrait painter in watercolours in the colony', and 'one of those quiet unobtrusive men of genius who work their way into notice and distinction without any assistance from newspapers'. Nicholas, whose studio-residence on Elizabeth Street provided an 'attiring room' for ladies, indeed seems to have been the portraitist of choice for Sydney's leading families. This work, attributed to Nicholas, depicts Theresa (1820–1869) and James Laidley Mort (1843–1907), the wife and eldest son of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort, one of nineteenth-century Sydney's most prominent businessmen. While Nicholas may be best known for his charming watercolours of society figures – particularly women and children – he also lithographed many drawings for publication, including those in William Baker's Heads of the People (1848).
Gift of the Mort family 2009
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