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Collection

An image of Lilydale from the Hills with the Dandenongs in the distance by Eugene von Guérard
Alternate image of Lilydale from the Hills with the Dandenongs in the distance by Eugene von Guérard

Eugene von Guérard

(England, Australia, Germany, Austria 17 Nov 1811–17 Apr 1901)

Title
Lilydale from the Hills with the Dandenongs in the distance
Place of origin
Christmas Hills → Victoria → Australia
Year
1878
Media categories
Watercolour, Drawing
Materials used
pen and black ink, watercolour on paper
Dimensions

61.2 x 91.2cm sight ; 68.2 x 98.2 x 4.0cm frame

Signature & date
Signed and dated l.r., pen and black ink "... 17 December 1878. Eugene von Guérard".
Credit
Purchased 2003
Accession number
60.2003
Location
Not on display
Further information

Eugene von Guérard, the son of an Austrian miniature painter, was trained in Rome and Düsseldorf, his father's birthplace. He accompanied his father to Italy in the late 1820s and there met the influential German painters, later known as the Nazarenes.

He arrived in Australia in 1852 and after a period in the Ballarat goldfields, settled in Melbourne where he soon established himself as a successful landscape painter. He became an esteemed figure in the art establishment of the colony, appointed curator of the National Gallery of Victoria and master of its Painting School in 1870, before his return to Düsseldorf in 1881.

Von Guérard undertook a number of commissions to paint the homesteads and properties of prosperous landowners in Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and South Australia. This finely delineated drawing depicts Christmas Hills, an area first used as grazing land as early as 1842, but now an outer suburb of Melbourne.

© Australian Art Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2004

Bibliography (2)

Hendrik Kolenberg, Look Apr 2005, 'Australian images from the past: whether rarely seen or familiar, these works move and delight us', pg. 24-27, Newtown, Apr 2005, 27.

Hendrik Kolenberg, 19th century Australian watercolours, drawing and pastels from the Gallery's collection 2005, 'Introduction', pg. 6-16, Domain, 2005, 2 (colour illus., detail), 10, 65 (colour illus.).

Exhibition history (1)

19th century Australian watercolours, drawings & pastels, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 06 Apr 2005–24 Jul 2005