Title
The Upper Nepean, NSW
(1889)
Artist
-
Details
- Other Titles
- The Upper Nepean
The Upper Nepean, New South Wales - Date
- (1889)
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 91.0 x 129.9 cm stretcher; 127.5 x 165.7 x 11.2 cm frame 30kg
- Signature & date
Signed l.l., black oil "W.C. Piguenit". Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1889
- Location
- South Building, ground level, Grand Courts
- Accession number
- 5934
- Copyright
- Artist information
-
WC Piguenit
Works in the collection
- Share
-
-
About
Piguenit's parents were born in England, his father being of French ancestry, but he was one of the earliest professional painters with a completely Australian background. Born in Hobart, Tasmania, he was mainly self-taught, taking his models from the European romanitc school which focused on motifs of heavy grandeur. His work is closely related to that of emigre Australian artists, Eugene von Guerard and Nicholas Chevalier.
Piguenit joined the Tasmanian Lands Department in 1850 and finally chose to become a full-time painter in 1873. He then moved to Sydney where he gained favourable support from the newly formed Art Gallery of New South Wales, and in fact was the first artist whose work was acquired by it, in 1875.
Considering its date, 'The Upper Nepean' does not comply with the image of landscape that was then the most important expression of its time in Australian art. It reflects not only a European romantic inheritance, but also a sense of curiosity and awe that typifies Australian landscape art preceding the first consolidation of a national school in the later 1880s. However, the subject is a very real part of Australia and recalls in its vision, Piguenit's earlier experience of the waters, mountains and atmosphere of Tasmania.
Barry Pearce, in Bernice Murphy (ed.), 'USSR: Old master paintings', AGDC, Sydney, 1979
-
Exhibition history
Shown in 13 exhibitions
Tenth Annual Exhibition of the Art Society of New South Wales (1889), Society Rooms, Union Chambers, Sydney, 1889 -
World's Columbian Exposition, 1893, Jackson Park, Chicago, , 01 May 1893–30 Oct 1893
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 04 May 1972–04 Jun 1972
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne, 04 Jul 1972–04 Aug 1972
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, 05 Sep 1972–01 Oct 1972
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 14 Nov 1972–17 Dec 1972
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, 17 Jan 1973–11 Feb 1973
The Australian Landscape (1972-73), Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane, 01 Mar 1973–01 Apr 1973
European painting 16th to 19th centuries and Australian paintings of the 19th century, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 10 Sep 1979 -
European painting 16th to 19th centuries and Australian paintings of the 19th century, State Hermitage Museum, Russia, 04 Dec 1979–18 Feb 1980
Samuel Elyard (1817-1910): Landscape painter and photographer, S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks, 01 Jul 1982–08 Aug 1982
A century of Australian landscape painting: mood and moment, Peking Art Gallery, Beijing, Oct 1983–Dec 1983
A century of Australian landscape painting: mood and moment, Shanghai Art Gallery, Shanghai, Oct 1983–Dec 1983
Two centuries of Australian painting, a selection from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, 19 Apr 1986–15 Jun 1986
W.C. Piguenit 1836-1914, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, 16 Dec 1992–14 Feb 1993
W.C. Piguenit 1836-1914, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 10 Mar 1993–25 Apr 1993
W.C. Piguenit 1836-1914, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 13 May 1993–04 Jul 1993
Imagining the West: the first hundred years - the 1790s to 1890s, Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest, Emu Plains, 28 Oct 1994–22 Jan 1995
New Worlds From Old: Australian and American Landscape Painting in the Nineteenth Century, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 07 Mar 1998–17 May 1998
New Worlds From Old: Australian and American Landscape Painting in the Nineteenth Century, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, United States of America, 12 Sep 1998–06 Dec 1998
New Worlds From Old: Australian and American Landscape Painting in the Nineteenth Century, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, United States of America, 26 Jan 1999–18 Apr 1999
Shaded, Dubbo Regional Art Gallery, Dubbo, 28 Aug 2017–03 Dec 2017
Fieldwork, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, 17 Jul 2020–20 Sep 2020
Fieldwork, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland, 28 Nov 2020–07 Feb 2021
A Nation Imagined: The Artists of the Picturesque Atlas, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 12 Mar 2021–11 Jul 2021
-
Bibliography
Referenced in 38 publications
-
Art Gallery of South Australia, The Australian landscape, Adelaide, 1972. cat.no. 18
-
Australian Gallery Directors Council, Old master paintings from the USSR: A survey of four centuries of European art. Report, Sydney, 1979, (illus.). cat.no. 55
-
Hubert Howe Bancroft, The book of the fair; an historical and descriptive presentation of the world's science, art, and industry, as viewed through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, 'Chapter the Twenty-First: Fine Arts', pg. 665-764, Chicago, 1893, 728.
-
Tim Bonyhady, Images in opposition: Australian landscape painting 1801–1890, 'The wilderness intact', pg. 81-86, Melbourne, 1985, 84, 85 (illus.), 177.
-
Edmund Capon, Apollo: the international art magazine, 'Lay of the land', pg. 36-42, London, Jul 2013-Aug 2013, 38, 39 (colour illus.). Feature: Australian landscape art
-
Deborah Edwards, Two centuries of Australian painting: a selection from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Introduction', pg. 8-14, Sydney, 1986, 20 (illus.). cat.no. 8
-
Suzanne Fraser, For Auld Lang Syne: images of Scottish Australia from First Fleet to Federation, 'Scottish Art, Highlandism and the colonial art museum', pg. 229-237, Ballarat, 2014, 236, 237 (colour illus.).
-
James Gleeson, Masterpieces of Australian painting, Melbourne, 1969, 45 (colour illus.). plate no. 7
-
Simon Gregg, New romantics: darkness and light in Australian art, 'The glacial', pg. 96-129, North Melbourne, 2011, 106, 108 (colour illus.).
-
Christa E. Johannes and Tony Brown, W.C. Piguenit 1836-1914: retrospective, Hobart, 1992, 52 (colour illus.) 101, 103. cat.no. 24
-
Elizabeth Johns, Andrew Sayers, Elizabeth Kornhauser, Amy Ellis, Patrick McCaughey, Peter Sutton and Brian Kennedy, New Worlds From Old, 'In Awe of the Land', pg. 153-176, Parkes, 1997, 163 (colour illus.). cat.no. 71
-
Elwyn Lynn, The Australian landscape and its artists, Rushcutters Bay, 1977, 36, 38 (colour illus.).
-
Frances McCarthy, Ian North and Daniel Thomas AM, Australian landscape 1802-1975, 'The Australian Landscape', Adelaide, 1972. cat.no. 18; not shown in Adelaide [replaced by Tom Roberts work from NGV]
-
Australian artists: Some have real artistic merit and the collection is credible', Chicago Daily Tribune, 'Pictures, pg. 9, Chicago, 08 Jun 1893, 9.
-
National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1888, Sydney, 1888. cat.no. 161, Oil Paintings, Titled 'The Upper Nepean, NSW'
-
National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1899, Sydney, 1899. cat.no. 270, Oil Paintings-Australian
-
National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1893, Sydney, 1893, 107. cat.no. 367, Loan collection to Commissioners of the Chicago Exposition
-
National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1891, Sydney, 1891, 66. cat.no. 227, Australian Court
-
H.R. Nicholls (Editor), Mercury, Hobart, 07 Oct 1895, page unknown.
-
Barry Pearce, A century of Australian landscape: mood and moment, Sydney, 1983, 14, 29 (colour illus.). cat.no. 12
-
Barry Pearce, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian', pg. 13-35, Sydney, 1988, 16.
-
Royal Art Society of New South Wales, Art Society of New South Wales Spring Exhibition Catalogue (1889), Sydney, 1889, 6, 11 (illus.). cat.no. 17; titled 'The Upper Nepean, N.S.W.'; price £84.0.0
-
Ken Sheldrick, Antiques and art Australasia, 'William Charles Piquenit', Sydney, 22 Dec 1970, 10 (illus.).
-
Bernard William Smith, A catalogue of Australian oil paintings in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1875-1952, Sydney, 1953, 162.
-
Bernard William Smith and Terry Smith, Australian painting 1788-1990, 'The late Colonial artists 1851-1885', pg. 48-70, South Melbourne, 1991, 53 (colour illus.), 59-60. plate no. 38
-
Hugh Speirs, Manning Clark and John Olsen, Landscape art and the Blue Mountains, Australia, 1981, 100 (illus.).
-
Clare Temple, Foundation Newsletter #24, 'Curators' and coordinators' reports', pg. 8-11, Sydney, Jul 2014, 11.
-
Vaurien, The Sydney Morning Herald, 'The Art Gallery', pg. 5, Sydney, 13 Dec 1890, 5. see curator's Worksheet
-
Olivia Welch, Nicole Welch: Eastern interiors: explorations from Bathurst to Albury, 'Nicole Welch: forward reflections', pg. 4-7, Waterloo, 2015, 6 (colour illus.). WC Piguenit's 'The Upper Nepean' is referenced in Nicole Welch's 'Apparitions' series
-
Natalie Wilson, Selling a nation: Australian artists at International Exhibitions [M.A., University of Sydney], 'Organisation of the New South Wales display in Chicago', pg.18-45, Sydney, 2001, between 24-25 (colour illus.), 25, 26, 27, 52. figure no. 10
-
Editor Unknown (Editor), Bulletin, Sydney, 26 Oct 1889, page unknown.
-
Editor Unknown (Editor), Sydney mail and New South Wales advertiser, Sydney, 19 Oct 1889, reproduced as black and white woodcut.
-
Editor Unknown (Editor), Sydney mail and New South Wales advertiser, Sydney, 12 Oct 1889, page unknown.
-
Editor Unknown (Editor), Daily telegraph, Sydney, 22 Jul 1893, page unknown.
-
Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 25 May 1895, page unknown.
-
World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893: Catalogue of the exhibits in the New South Wales Courts, 'Department K - fine arts, painting, sculpture, architecture and decoration. Grou, p 140, Sydney, 1893, 435. cat.no. 5; section 1178
-
Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney Morning Herald, 'The Art Society's Exhibition', pg. 4, Sydney, 04 Oct 1889, 4. see curator's Worksheet
-
Editor Unknown (Editor), Illustrated Sydney News, Sydney, 17 Oct 1889, reproduced as black and white woodcut.
-
