WC Piguenit
(Australia 27 Aug 1836–17 Jul 1914)
- Title
- Mount Olympus, Lake St Clair, Tasmania, the source of the Derwent
- Other titles:
- Mount Olympus, Lake St Clair, Tasmania
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus, Tasmania - Year
- 1875
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
-
69.0 x 107.0cm
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.l., oil "W. C. Piguenit 1875".
- Credit
- Gift of fifty subscribers 1875
- Accession number
- 6141
- Location
- 19th c Australian art
- Further information
Son of a convict transported to Van Diemen’s Land in 1830, WC Piguenit was schooled in Hobart and later worked in the Department of Lands survey office as a draughtsman. He received rudimentary instruction in painting, however he was largely self taught, making sketching and photography trips to remote and spectacular regions of Tasmania. Piguenit painted in the colonial Romantic tradition, describing nature in terms of its infinite mystery combined with a topographical essence of its features.
'Mount Olympus' is one of many works in which Piguenit painted Tasmania in terms of a sublime majesty evoked through a masterful orchestration of earth, water and sky and dwarfed human activity. It was the first oil painting acquired by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
- Bibliography (37)
-
John McDonald (Australia, b.1961) (Author), Art of Australia. Vol. 1: Exploration to Federation, Sydney, 2008, 217 (colour illus.), 218.
Ann Galbally (Australia) (Author), Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Barry Humphries (Australia, b.1934) (Author), Charles Conder 1868-1909, Domain, 2003, 17.
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 12, 18, 35 (colour illus.), 301.
Elizabeth Johns (Author), Andrew Sayers (Australia, b.1957) (Author), Elizabeth Kornhauser (Author), Amy Ellis (Author), Patrick McCaughey (Northern Ireland; Australia, b.1943) (Author), Peter Sutton (Author), Brian Kennedy (Author), New Worlds From Old, Parkes, 1997, 64 (illus.). fig.no. 36
Christa Johannes (Australia) (Author), Tony Brown (Australia) (Author), W.C. Piguenit 1836-1914: retrospective, Hobart, 1992, 17 (colour illus.), 18, 19, 99. cat.no. 1
Annabel Davie (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook, Domain, 1988, 13 (colour illus.).
Shar Jones (Author), Jennifer Phipps (Australia) (Editor), Early painters of Australia, 1788-1880, Sydney, 1988, 179, 181 (colour illus.).
'The wilderness intact', pg. 81-86., Images in opposition: Australian landscape painting 1801-1890 1985, 1985, 83, 84 (illus.), 177.
Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Editor), Jan Meek (Australia) (Editor), Portrait of a Gallery, Sydney, 1984, 24.
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), A century of Australian landscape: mood and moment, Sydney, 1983, 14, 26 (colour illus.). cat.no. 9
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Fifteen decades of Australian paintings, Sydney, 1981, (colour illus.). cat.no. 5
Terry Smith (Editor), Anthony Bradley (b.1936) (Editor), Australian art and architecture: essays presented to Bernard Smith, Melbourne, 1980, 68, 70.
Daniel Thomas (Author), Australian art in the 1870s, Sydney, 1976, 24. cat.no. 96
William Splatt (Author), Barbara Burton (Author), 100 masterpieces of Australian painting, Adelaide, 1973, 32, 33 (colour illus.). plate no. 13
'Australian collection' by Daniel Thomas, pg. 52-62., Art and Australia [vol. 10, no. 1] Jul 1972, Jul 1972, 52 (colour illus.), 53.
Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916, d.2011) (Author), Australian painting 1788-1970, South Melbourne, 1971, 60, 62 (illus.), 558, 582. plate no. 44
'The Art Gallery of New South Wales' by Daniel Thomas, pg. 10-15., Art Gallery of New South Wales Quarterly Jan 1960, Jan 1960, 14.
Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916, d.2011) (Author), A catalogue of Australian oil paintings in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1875-1952, Sydney, 1953, 162.
Hal Missingham (Australia, b.1906, d.1994) (Author), A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Domain, 1953. cat.no. 36
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1899, Sydney, 1899. cat.no. 286, Oil Paintings-Australian
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1893, Sydney, 1893. cat.no. 352, Australian Court, titled 'Mount Olympus'
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1891, Sydney, 1891. cat.no. 252, Australian Court
Illustrated Sydney News 06 Feb 1890, 06 Feb 1890, page unknown.
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1888, Sydney, 1888. cat.no. 98, Oil Paintings
'Sydney Art Gallery' by Diedrith Newkomer., Illustrated Sydney news 20 May 1887, 20 May 1887, page unknown.
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1886, Sydney, 1886. cat.no. 112, Oil Paintings-Loan Room
Arthur Greenwood (Author), Harold W H Stephen (Author), Catalogue descriptive and critical of the Art Gallery with Sydney art notes, Sydney, 1883, 20. titled 'Mount Olympus, Tasmania'
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1883, Sydney, 1883. cat.no. 94, titled 'Mount Olympus, Lake St Clair, Tasmania'
Sydney mail and New South Wales advertiser 20 May 1875, 20 May 1875, page unknown.
The Sydney Morning Herald 17 Apr 1875, 17 Apr 1875, page unknown.
Mercury 17 Apr 1875, 17 Apr 1875, page unknown.
The Sydney Morning Herald 15 Apr 1875, 15 Apr 1875, page unknown.
The Sydney Morning Herald 12 Apr 1875, 12 Apr 1875, page unknown.
The Sydney Morning Herald 03 Apr 1875, 03 Apr 1875, page unknown.
The Sydney Morning Herald 29 Mar 1875, 29 Mar 1875, page unknown.
NSW Academy of Art (Australia, estab. 1871, closed 1880) (Author), Fourth Annual Exhibition of Works of Colonial Art 1875, Sydney, 1875, 4. cat.no. 25; titled 'Mount Olympus, Lake St. Clair, Tasmania - the source of the Derwent'; painted by W.C. Piguenit; price 52.10.0.
Fourth Annual Report of the New South Wales Academy of Art 1874-75 1875, 1875, not paginated. listed in Appendix under 'Oil Paintings', Society's Extra Silver Medal (to Artist) No. 25 - W.C. Piguenit, artist, Tasmania; also mentioned in text.
- Exhibition history (12)
-
Travelling Art Exhibitions 1952. Australian landscape painting, Taree Council Chambers, 08 Jul 1952–22 Jul 1952.
Travelling Art Exhibitions 1952. Australian landscape painting, Lithgow Public Library, 05 Aug 1952–19 Aug 1952.
Travelling Art Exhibitions 1952. Australian landscape painting, Young Public Library, 16 Sep 1952–30 Sep 1952.
Travelling Art Exhibitions 1952. Australian landscape painting, Church of England Parish Hall, 13 Oct 1952–26 Oct 1952.
A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 25 Sep 1953–25 Oct 1953.
Australian art in the 1870s, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 25 Jun 1976–02 Aug 1976.
Australian art in the 1870s, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], 28 Oct 1976–21 Nov 1976.
A century of Australian landscape painting: mood and moment, Shanghai Art Gallery, Oct 1983–Dec 1983.
A century of Australian landscape painting: mood and moment, Peking Art Gallery, Oct 1983–Dec 1983.
W.C. Piguenit 1836-1914, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 16 Dec 1992–14 Feb 1993.
W.C. Piguenit 1836-1914, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 10 Mar 1993–25 Apr 1993.
W.C. Piguenit 1836-1914, Art Gallery of Western Australia, 13 May 1993–04 Jul 1993.
