George French Angas (25 April 1822 – 4 October 1886), also known as G.F.A., was an English explorer, naturalist, painter and poet who emigrated to Australia. His paintings are held in a number of important Australian public art collections. He was the eldest son of George Fife Angas, who was prominent in the early days of the colonisation of South Australia.
Biography
Studio Portrait of George French Angas, ca. 1865
He was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, the eldest son of George Fife Angas, prominent in the establishment of the new colony of South Australia. Despite showing remarkable talent in drawing, he was placed in a London business house by his father. He left on a tour of Europe and in 1842 published his first book, "Rambles in Malta and Sicily". As a result of this experience, he turned his back on the world of commerce, and directed his training towards a study of natural history, anatomical drawing and lithography. Embarking on his travels, he was soon to find his acquired skills extremely useful.
Angas painted some of the earliest views of South Australia. Arriving in Adelaide in January 1844, he joined Sir George Grey on an expedition into the interior. He soon began an extensive series of journeys to the Murray River lakes, Barossa Valley, Fleurieu Peninsula and the South East, presenting his impressions of the newly established colony – its inhabitants, landscape, and its flora and fauna (flowers, plants and stuff). Following a trip to New Zealand he returned to South Australia in 1845 and travelled to Port Lincoln. In the following year, 1846, he returned for a short while to England, accompanied by a young Māori man, Hemi Pomara,[1] who was exhibited alongside Angas's paintings at the Egyptian Hall in London.[1]
Angas' next journey in 1846 was to South Africa, where he spent two years in Natal and the Cape, working on a series of drawings and watercolours which were published in 1849 as The Kafirs Illustrated. In this book were views of Cape Town, Durban, Wynberg, Genadendal, Paarl and Somerset West, and plates depicting the local ethnic groups such as the Khoikhoi (then referred to as Hottentots), Cape Malays and Zulus.
Angas married Alicia Mary Moran in 1849, the marriage producing four daughters.
In 1853 Angas was appointed to a position at the Australian Museum in Sydney, eventually becoming Director and staying a total of seven years. Angas was in Sydney when gold was first discovered near Bathurst, New South Wales. Travelling there to record the gold diggings he executed a number of drawings of the scenes that he found. These were published in Sydney and subsequently in London. Angas was represented at the 1855 Paris exposition with five other Australian artists including Conrad Martens, Frederick Terry and Adelaide Ironside, the first time Australian artists had been represented at a major overseas display.[2] Angas returned to South Australia in 1860, and finally went back to England in 1863. Angas published several books on Australia and Polynesia as well as illustrating accounts of exploration by John McDouall Stuart and John Forrest, and contributed significantly to conchology with his descriptions and illustrations.[3]
Angas died in London on 8 October 1886.
Genadendal Mission Station, South Africa (c. 1849)
Collections and legacy
The African antelope, Nyala (Tragelaphus angasii), was named in his honour.[4]
1847 Savage life and scenes in Australia and New Zealand : being an artist's impressions of countries and people at the antipodes (Lithographers Day & Haghe, Publishers Smith Elders & Co., Adelaide)
1849 The Kafirs Illustrated (London: Hogarth Press)[8]
1849 Description of the Barossa Range and Its Neighbourhood in South Australia (Smith, Elder & Co., London)
