Currently on display until 27 May, 2018 at the
Art Gallery of Ballarat is
Eugene von Guerard: Artist?raveller.
Born in Vienna, he arrived in Australia in 1852 by the anticipation of finding gold but life on the goldfields was exciting but harsh. After more than a year, he left the goldfields and returned to Melbourne where he resumed his painting career.
Having filled twenty-two sketchbooks with drawings from his twenty-eight years in Australia, von Guerard captured the diversity and beauty of Australia's natural environments.
Tower Hill 1855. Image from Wikipedia
Eugene von Guerard: Artist-Traveller offers the visitor the rare opportunity to trace the work from the sketchbook to the final studio painting. It features drawings and sketchbooks from the State Library of Victoria and the State Library of New South Wales.
Some of the installations on display will be seen for the first time. In addition to the Art Gallery of Ballarat's works, you'll see paintings from the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, Geelong Gallery, Warrnambool Art Gallery and Benalla Art Gallery, as well as from private collectors.
Ballarat 1853-54. Image from Wikipedia.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of public programs, including a bus tour of sites in the Western District visited by von Guerard, forums and discussion, and landscape-drawing workshops.
Visit Art Gallery of Ballarat to see the story of Eugene von Guerard, a great landscape painter of colonial Australia.