VON GUÉRARD, Eugène; A view from Mt Franklin towards Mount Kooroocheang...
By Asian Art
Through a generous donation, Brisbane gallery director Philip Bacon made possible the acquisition of Eugene Von Guérard's A view from Daylesford towards the Pyrenees c.1864, (from the Sotheby's auction, held in Sydney earlier this year). Von Guérard is arguably Australia's most significant artist of the colonial period. Considered essential for any substantial collection of Australian art, Von Guérard was only modestly represented in the Queensland Art Gallery Collection until now. The Gallery is delighted to have this new acquisition on display, where it now forms the centrepiece of the colonial-landscape collection.
Von Guérard, who trained in Rome under Giovanibattista Bassi in 1830–31, and also in Dusseldorf, painted in the tradition of the German Romantic landscape painters, such as Caspar David Friedrich. Their aim was to link man and God by depicting the grandiose aspects of nature. Von Guérard's works usually have some human element in the vastness of his landscapes, showing the viewer the smallness of the 'human' scale when compared to the greatness of nature.
Von Guérard came to Australia in 1852 during the gold rush period, and he stayed for almost 30 years. He was, perhaps, the first classically trained painter to work in Victoria. During this time, he travelled extensively throughout the state, also visiting Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales, and New Zealand. He made extensive field notes or sketches as he travelled, and once back in his studio, Von Guérard would rework these into paintings. He was appointed Master of the Painting School and Curator of the National Gallery of Victoria in 1870, and was there until 1881, when he departed for England, where he died in 1901.
Â
In the essay in the Sotheby's auction catalogue, Dr Candice Bruce, the authority on Von Guérard's work, notes that in 1864, he set out on an eight-week sketching trip through the countryside, north-west of Melbourne. From March to May, he roamed the district on horseback, travelling from Mount Macedon to Daylesford, Creswick, and Ballarat, and then further west to John Ware's property, Yalla-y-Poora, and on to Ararat, Buangor, and the Mount Cole Ranges. Two weeks into his trip, on 21 April, Von Guérard arrived at William Stanbridge's run, Wombat Park. As well as filling his sketchbook with preparatory drawings — Von Guérard completed many elaborate pencil drawings of the area, which now form a collection in the Mitchell Library in Sydney — he painted several canvases as a result, including three for William Stanbridge; North view from Daylesford 1864 (private collection); Breakneck Gorge, Hepburn Springs (loaned to the Geelong Art Gallery); and A view from Daylesford towards the Pyrenees c.1864. All three paintings once hung in the dining room of Stanbridge's homestead.
The serene interpretation of countryside in A view from Daylesford towards the Pyrenees shows land recently explored: the westward thrust into the wilderness, from which emerged the celebrated Western Districts of Victoria, is represented by two diminutive figures in the foreground, one, presumably, is the artist himself. Daylesford, then in the throes of a gold rush, is now a charming weekend resort, favoured by Melburnians. In the mid-nineteenth century, however, the Daylesford hills represented limitless potential and prosperity. In this picturesque, golden panorama, with the morning sun striking the slopes of Hepburn Hill, Von Guérard suggests a land of opportunity for energetic settlers, and the life of wealth and ease that would reward their efforts. The painting is a fine example of the adaptation of European landscape painting to the new continent.
Von Guérard, who trained in Rome under Giovanibattista Bassi in 1830–31, and also in Dusseldorf, painted in the tradition of the German Romantic landscape painters, such as Caspar David Friedrich. Their aim was to link man and God by depicting the grandiose aspects of nature. Von Guérard's works usually have some human element in the vastness of his landscapes, showing the viewer the smallness of the 'human' scale when compared to the greatness of nature.
Von Guérard came to Australia in 1852 during the gold rush period, and he stayed for almost 30 years. He was, perhaps, the first classically trained painter to work in Victoria. During this time, he travelled extensively throughout the state, also visiting Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales, and New Zealand. He made extensive field notes or sketches as he travelled, and once back in his studio, Von Guérard would rework these into paintings. He was appointed Master of the Painting School and Curator of the National Gallery of Victoria in 1870, and was there until 1881, when he departed for England, where he died in 1901.
Â
In the essay in the Sotheby's auction catalogue, Dr Candice Bruce, the authority on Von Guérard's work, notes that in 1864, he set out on an eight-week sketching trip through the countryside, north-west of Melbourne. From March to May, he roamed the district on horseback, travelling from Mount Macedon to Daylesford, Creswick, and Ballarat, and then further west to John Ware's property, Yalla-y-Poora, and on to Ararat, Buangor, and the Mount Cole Ranges. Two weeks into his trip, on 21 April, Von Guérard arrived at William Stanbridge's run, Wombat Park. As well as filling his sketchbook with preparatory drawings — Von Guérard completed many elaborate pencil drawings of the area, which now form a collection in the Mitchell Library in Sydney — he painted several canvases as a result, including three for William Stanbridge; North view from Daylesford 1864 (private collection); Breakneck Gorge, Hepburn Springs (loaned to the Geelong Art Gallery); and A view from Daylesford towards the Pyrenees c.1864. All three paintings once hung in the dining room of Stanbridge's homestead.
The serene interpretation of countryside in A view from Daylesford towards the Pyrenees shows land recently explored: the westward thrust into the wilderness, from which emerged the celebrated Western Districts of Victoria, is represented by two diminutive figures in the foreground, one, presumably, is the artist himself. Daylesford, then in the throes of a gold rush, is now a charming weekend resort, favoured by Melburnians. In the mid-nineteenth century, however, the Daylesford hills represented limitless potential and prosperity. In this picturesque, golden panorama, with the morning sun striking the slopes of Hepburn Hill, Von Guérard suggests a land of opportunity for energetic settlers, and the life of wealth and ease that would reward their efforts. The painting is a fine example of the adaptation of European landscape painting to the new continent.
Glenn R Cooke, Artlines, no.2, 2008, pp.46–47.
