different artists' works would have been difficult a few years ago. But thanks to the dedicated folks at Masterworks, such a perspective of the changing skyline and life on the streets over many decades is now possible. The charity set out to do just what it accomplishes in "A City in the Garden of Eden'', now on display in the National Gallery's upper level.

The show gives the viewer the opportunity to enjoy Bermuda's heritage in the form of the work of artists who captured Bermuda in oils, watercolour, by camera, or however their favourite medium would depict the charm and beauty of "the rock'' that they saw.

The variety of more than 30 works gives a new appreciation of Hamilton's many angles -- from Thomas Driver's watercolour over soft-ground etching of A View of Hamilton Harbour, 1823, to Helen Star Bertles' Waterloo House, a watercolour painted some time in the 1980s, with its backdrop of ocean racing yachts in dress flags at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

Much time was taken to choreograph the show, which is a pleasant and informative way to spend an hour or more. It is a good place for teachers -- of both history and art -- to take students to learn about the Island's past and to study the exquisite detail and myriad styles used to portray it.

Masterworks has a superb collection of watercolours done in days gone by. But of note in this show is Ross Sterling Turner's Harbour View, Bermuda 1908.

This sensitive and talented American artist took a slice of Bermuda and capitalised on it by giving a less-is-more view of quaint water-side cottages with a large ship's orange smoke-stacks rising from surrounding vegetation to create a memorable focal point -- from what appears to be a Foot-of-the-Lane perspective.

American artist Evelyn Bicknell (1857-1936) painted from a Fort Hamilton viewpoint to capture city rooftops in the foreground and the softness of the rolling terrain across a peaceful harbour setting beyond -- minus the mosaic of houses that were later erected.

At the start of the show and literally a few steps away from many of the gallery's traditional approaches of freeze-framing Hamilton is the dramatic oil Blue Aloe by American E. Ambrose Webster (1869-1915). His wonderfully daring, bold brush strokes of the blue and yellow plant are well contrasted by the purple, blue and pink medley that comprise the wall behind it. His use of exaggerated colours, combined with the trademark of definite strokes, make this otherwise possibly dull subject jump off the canvas and imprint on the mind. An ambience of the Southwestern United States comes to mind with this piece.

A piece of busy Hamilton was captured by American Reynolds Beal (1886-1951) in Front Street (actually named Hamilton, March 4, 1940, by the artist). A small gem, executed in crayon, it captures Heyl's Corner and Front Street from the steps next to the Ferry Terminal. It is on loan and probably won't be seen in public again for a while.

A Van Gogh-esque style with brush strokes gives a vivid effect in Hamilton by Beal. The harbour view of the skyline with a square rigger moored alongside the dock with a pilot boat and rowing dinghies nearby lend the feeling of the laid-back approach to the Island's water-side life -- gentle in comparison to the stately formal architecture that looms.

Another interpretation is E.J. Holland's Panorama of Hamilton. The Canadian captured the city and environs, showing a sparsely populated Point Shares and Pembroke to the Victorian architecture of the original Princess and Hamilton hotels. Albuoy's Point is very different in appearance with the Point Pleasant Hotel perched alongside the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The functional warehouses of yesteryear and square-rigger and sail-assisted cargo vessel bring attention to the fact that these once stored vegetables bound for New York, and ports along the Eastern seaboard.

Time is well spent viewing the photographic collection clustered along one wall. Master photographer Fred Hamilton, who lived on the Island for many years, captured a city panorama on film in the late 1950s-early 1960s. He accomplished it in two images and carefully matted them together -- doing it honestly by cutting the matte to accommodate the collage. The result is powerful. And the dockside features the Queen of Bermuda and Ocean Monarch -- ships firmly entrenched in many Bermudians' memories -- will take many locals back to another era -- as does the Chauncey M. Depew , a tender that was used for decades.

Bermudian Charles Lloyd Tucker's (1913-1971) prominent canvasses are an important part of this exhibit. Hamilton Hotel depicts the aftermath of this grand building that went up in flames in the 1950s. The clean-up effort is brilliantly executed, and he captured an important piece of history by doing so.

Masterworks' showpieces -- Georgia O'Keeffe's Banyan Tree Trunk, 1934, the finely detailed erotic pencil drawing; Study for Les Bermudes, la Maison du Gouveneur by French cubist Albert Gleizes and the American impressionist Ross Sterling Turner's works -- are integral parts of the exhibit that should not be missed and can be seen again and again with a new appreciation each time.

JUDITH WADSON.