Historical information

James Wigley (1917-1999) is an Australian painter known for his sensitive depictions of aboriginal camp scenes and desert landscapes. He served in the army in WW2. On his discharge he built himself a stone house at Warrandtye where he lived for some years before moving to Port Hedland in 1957, where he studied the "aboriginal and half-caste" life for which his work is perhaps best known. He returned to the Eltham and Warrandyte districts from time to time between making many tours into outback Australia.

Significance

This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book,"Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.'
It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.

Physical description

Digital image