Joseph Lycett
Joseph Lycett (c.1774 – 1828) was an English-born artist, active in Australia.
Lycett was a portrait and miniature painter. He was convicted of forgery on 10 August 1811 and transported to Australia, sailing aboard the General Hewitt, arriving in 1814. While employed in the police office at Sydney he again committed forgery and was sent to Newcastle, where he came to the attention of the commandant of the settlement, Captain James Wallis. Wallis appears to have used his skills on a number of projects, including two highly significant painted two collectors chests, both held by the State Library of New South Wales.There he painted an altar piece for Christ Church, and on the recommendation of Captain Wallis, the commandant, was given a conditional pardon. He returned to Sydney, was allowed to practise his art, and in 1820 Governor Macquarie sent three of his paintings to Earl Bathurst. Many of his patrons seem to have been drawn from the military and public service elite, and included Commissioner John Thomas Bigge (who described Lycett as an alcoholic), his secretary Thomas Hobbes Scott, and Macquarie's aide-de-camp John Watts.
Lycett specialised in topographical views of the major towns of Australia, and some of its more dramatic landscapes. He was also a competent botanical artist. His range of talents was similar to any provincial English artist.
Although his later publication Views in Australia suggests Lycett also visited Tasmania, there is no evidence of his actually travelling there. He returned to England in September 1822, having been granted an absolute pardon by Governor Macquarie in November 1821. With publisher John Souter, between July 1824 and June 1825 he issued Views in Australia, or New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land in 13 parts. With its complicated publishing history, the extent of Lycett's involvement in the entire production is unclear, and it does seem that the book was not successful. These views were reissued in a volume in 1825. The 50 plates are coloured in some copies and plain in others. Lycett died in Birmingham in 1828, apparently from wounds he inflicted upon himself as he was again arrested for forgery in late 1827.
References
- Serle, Percival (1949). "Lycett, Joseph". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
- John McPhee ed., Joseph Lycett. Convict artist, Historic Houses Trust of NSW, 2006
- Rex Rienits, 'Lycett, Joseph (1774 - 1825?)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2, MUP, 1967, pp 140-141.