Halvorsen’s Boat Building Shop
- About Robert Emerson Curtis
Robert was born in Croydon, England in 1898. His family migrated to Australia, settling in Stanthorpe, Queensland. Both his parents and two sisters painted, and Curtis decided to study art via correspondence.
In 1918, he moved to Brisbane where he worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for the Brisbane Mail. This work funded a trip to the United States in 1922, where Curtis studied art and undertook various commissions. Curtis returned to Australia in 1928, in time to record the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
In 1940, Curtis gained permission from the Department of Information to depict activities in Commonwealth munition and aircraft factories. Curtis' reputation as an artist was enhanced when the Sydney Morning Herald published some of his drawings.
In 1941, he joined the Department of Home Security, where he worked as a camouflage officer and was accredited for service with the RAAF. He was appointed Officer in Charge of Camouflage in New Guinea and seized every opportunity to record the activities of the Australian and American troops.
In January 1945, Curtis accepted an appointment as an official war artist. He covered the civil and industrial war effort in Australia, as well as the activities of the service organisations. Much of his work depicts shipbuilding, a subject which gave him the opportunity to explore his interest in technological achievements. In these drawings, the men are dwarfed by the vessels upon which they work and yet are shown to be in control.
The Australian War Memorial holds over two hundred works by Curtis.
- About Fairmiles
Fairmile motor launches were small, fast, highly manoeuvrable, lightly armed craft designed in the United Kingdom. They were originally intended to be used for coastal anti-submarine and convoy protection duties but soon proved to be vessels capable of much broader operational tasking.
HMAS HDML 1324 also known as Nepean was built by A. McFarlane and Sons, Birkenhead, South Australia. After service in north Australian waters she was at Timor for the Japanese surrender in 1945. She was later reclassified as a Seaward Defence Boat.
More reading
- Additional resources for Fairmiles
