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An image of Waterfall, Strath Creek by Eugene von Guérard

Eugene von Guérard

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

Title
Waterfall, Strath Creek
Place of origin
Melbourne → Victoria → Australia
Year
1862
Media category
Painting
Materials used
oil on canvas
Dimensions

83.2 x 65.7cm stretcher; 108.4 x 92.0 x 10.0cm frame

Signature & date
Signed and dated l.l. corner, red oil "Eug.v.Guerard/ .../ 1862".
Credit
Purchased 1967
Accession number
OA3.1967
Location
19th c Australian art
Further information

Viennese-born, and trained in Italy and Germany, Eugene von Guérard arrived at the Victorian goldfields in 1852. After two years of limited success, he moved to Melbourne to resume his career as a painter and settled there for the next 28 years, becoming a teacher at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School.

In January 1862, von Guérard made an exploratory expedition along the upper reaches of the Goulburn River in Victoria. Among various sketches, he made a large drawing of Strath Creek Falls (now Murchison Falls), later working it up in his studio. 'Waterfall, Strath Creek' is imbued with a sense of awe and wonder, reflecting the German Romantic belief in painting as an expression of personal insight into the divine.

Bibliography (39)

'Earthly pleasures' by John McDonald, pg. 14-15., The Sydney Morning Herald 23 Jul 2011-24 Jul 2011, 23 Jul 2011-24 Jul 2011, 14 (colour illus.), 15. NOTE: This article was published in the 'Sectrum' section of the newspaper.

Menzies Art Brands Pty Ltd [Sydney] (Australia) (Author), Menzies, Melbourne: Australian & International Fine Art 24 March 2011, Sydney, 2011, 62. Work being sold was 'Lysterfield Hillside II' by Fred Williams.

Deborah Hart (South Africa; United Kingdom; Australia, b.1959) (Author), Fred Williams: infinite horizons, Canberra, 2011, 168, 169, 209, 210 (colour illus.).

Fred Williams: infinite horizons: secondary school education resource 2011, 2011, 209, 210 (colour illus.). 'Art history' card

Ruth Pullin (Australia) (Author), Eugene von Guérard: nature revealed, Melbourne, 2011, front cover (colour illus., detail), 61, 205, 208, 209 (colour illus.), 210, 291.

Deutscher-Menzies, Sydney (Australia), Lawson-Menzies (Australia), Deutscher-Menzies & Lawson-Menzies, Sydney: Major fine art auction - 25 March 2009, Sydney, 2009, 76. Quote by Fred Williams stating he found this work inspiring.

A. Frances Johnson (Author), Eugene's falls, North Melbourne, 2007, cover (colour illus.). Fictional recreation of the artist's life.

'Waterfall: an inspiration to travellers and artists' by Helen Campbell, pg. 19., Look Jun 2006, Jun 2006, 19 (colour illus.).

Andrew Sayers (Australia, b.1957) (Author), Australian art, Oxford, 2001, 211, 212.

Christie's, Australia Pty. Ltd. (Australia), 26/08/2001 Christie's Contemporary Sydney, South Yarra, 2001, 83. lot no. 89; Julia Ciccarone's 'Struggle to define', oil on canvas, 134.0 x 181.0cm, based on Eugene von Guérard's painting 'Waterfall, Strath Creek'.

Lynne Seear (Australia) (Editor), Darkness & light: the art of William Robinson, South Brisbane, 2001, 20 (colour illus.).

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 18, 29 (colour illus.), 300.

Deborah Hart (South Africa; United Kingdom; Australia, b.1959) (Author), William Delafield Cook, Sydney, 1998, 171 (colour illus.), 172.

Art and Australia (vol. 34, no. 3) 1997, 1997, 10, 11 (colour illus.).

Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), AGNSW Collection Sydney, Domain, 1994, 10, 11 (colour illus.).

Paul Fox (Australia) (Author), Jennifer Phipps (Australia) (Author), Sweet damper and gossip: colonial sightings from the Goulburn and North-east, Benalla, 1994, 20 (colour illus.), 22, 27.

Lois Hunter (Australia) (Author), The Australian art companion - A selection of influential artists, Balgowlah Heights, (1990), 40, 41 (illus.).

Mary Eagle (Australia, b.1944) (Author), Imants Tillers (Australia, b.1950) (Artist), Imants Tillers - Poem of ecstasy, Victoria, 1990, 6, 17 (colour illus.). cat.no. 5,; 'Untitled (Deaf)', 1989, references von Guérard's painting.

Annabel Davie (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook, Domain, 1988, 15, 16 (illus.).

'William Delafield Cook' by Linda van Nunen, pg. 148-151., Studio collections Dec 1987-Jan 1988, Dec 1987-Jan 1988, 150 ( illus.), 151.

Australian landscape series 1987, 1987, (colour illus.).

Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Editor), Jan Meek (Australia) (Editor), Portrait of a Gallery, Sydney, 1984, 25 (colour illus.). cat.no. 4

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), A century of Australian landscape: mood and moment, Sydney, 1983, 14, 20, 21 (colour illus.).

Candice Bruce (Australia) (Author), Edward Cornstock (Author), Frank McDonald (Australia) (Author), Eugene von Guérard: A German Romantic in the Antipodes, Martinborough, 1982, 36, 37, 124, 125 (colour illus.), 219. cat.no. 72; plate.no. 28

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Fifteen decades of Australian paintings, Sydney, 1981, (colour illus.). cat.no. 4

Art and Artists of Australia 1981, 1981, (colour illus.). not paginated

‘The man who preceded the Heidelberg School’ by Mary Eagle, pg. 8., The Age 24 Dec 1980, 24 Dec 1980, 8.

Candice Bruce (Australia) (Author), Eugen von Guérard, Canberra, 1980, 54, 55 (colour illus.), 69, 106 (illus.).

Marjorie Tipping (b.1917) (Author), Eugen von Guérard's Australian Landscapes, Melbourne, 1975, 48, 56, 78, 80, 84,94,98,109, 110, 112. References to other waterfall subjects by Von Guerard

Daniel Thomas (Editor), Aodaliya feng jing hua zhan lan (1802-1975), Hong Kong, 1975. Note: catalogue printed in Chinese. English translation enclosed; cat.no. 26; not paginated

'Australian collection' by Daniel Thomas, pg. 52-62., Art and Australia [vol. 10, no. 1] Jul 1972, Jul 1972, 53 (colour illus.).

Editor Unknown (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Domain, 1972, 70 (colour illus.).

James Gleeson (Australia, b.1915, d.2008) (Author), Colonial painters, 1788-1880, Sydney, 1971, 79 (colour illus.). plate.no. 67

Alan McCulloch (Australia, b.1907, d.1992) (Author), John Henshaw (New Zealand; Australia, b.1929, d.2006) (Editor), The golden age of Australian painting - Impressionism and the Heidelberg school, Melbourne, 1969, 2, 3 (colour illus.), 4.

James Gleeson (Australia, b.1915, d.2008) (Author), John Henshaw (New Zealand; Australia, b.1929, d.2006) (Editor), Masterpieces of Australian painting, Melbourne, 1969, 47 (colour illus.).

Art Gallery of New South Wales Quarterly Jul 1968, Jul 1968, 410, 416 (illus.).

1967 Acquisitions 1967, 1967, 24-25.

Phillips, Son & Neale (England, estab. 1882, closed 1970s) (Author), Catalogue of paintings, drawings & prints being a collection of pictures of Australia and New Zealand, the Pacific Isles and elsewhere: expeditionary, Aboriginal and colonial views, scenes, etc. Chiefly 19th century., London, 1966. lot no. 2; titled 'Pioneers exploring a Waterfall’; not paginated

Editor Unknown (Editor), Society of Artists Spring Exhibition, Sydney, 1912, 30. A work influenced by ‘Waterfall, Strath Creek’ offered at the Deutscher and Hackett sale 'Works from the Wesfarmers collection of Australian art’, Melbourne, 29 August 2012, 'lot no. 9, Fred Williams ‘Turritable Falls 1’ 1979.

Exhibition history (14)

Acquisitions 1967, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 06 Mar 1968–01 Apr 1968.

Eugene von Guérard, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Jun 1980–Jul 1980.

Eugene von Guérard, Queensland Art Gallery, Aug 1980–Aug 1980.

Eugene von Guérard, City of Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Sep 1980–Oct 1980.

Eugene von Guérard, Art Gallery of South Australia, Nov 1980–Nov 1980.

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.

Sweet Damper and Gossip - Colonial sightings from Goulburn and the North East, Monash University Gallery, 21 Feb 1994–31 Mar 1994.

Sweet Damper and Gossip - Colonial sightings from Goulburn and the North East, Benalla Art Gallery, 10 Apr 1994–08 May 1994.

Sweet Damper and Gossip - Colonial sightings from Goulburn and the North East, Shepparton Art Museum, 17 May 1994–12 Jun 1994.

Australian Collection Focus: Waterfall, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 17 May 2006–16 Jul 2006.

Eugene von Guérard: nature revealed, Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, 16 Apr 2011–07 Aug 2011.

Eugene von Guérard: nature revealed, Queensland Art Gallery, 17 Dec 2011–04 Mar 2012.

Eugene von Guérard: nature revealed, National Gallery of Australia, 27 Apr 2012–15 Jul 2012.