The silent wilderness 19th century Australian landscapes Foreword The silent wilderness 19th century Australian landscapes

All swirling mists, frosty light and of a weird, At the present moment … there is European history from the journey of Captain Cook Chevalier, and later Louis Buvelot, for example, almost primordial aspect, William Charles cultivation and enterprise contrasted along the east coast of the continent in 1770, in their depictions of this scene. In Clark’s Piguenit’s A mountain top, Tasmania, with the silent wilderness, and the untrodden accompanied by artist Sydney Parkinson. version, the viewer is placed beneath the deep c. 1886—seen, in detail, on the cover of this solitude of the distant hills. In The silent wilderness, early precedents alcove that effectively frames the composition publication—epitomises that genre of 19th George French Angas, 1847i to the works of Chevalier and von Guérard like a proscenium arch, while the waterfall century Australian art that is the subject of include Conrad Martens’ Fall of the Quarrooilli, at left drops into a deep pool, beside which this exhibition. This is the genre of wilderness In the late-1850s, depictions of spectacular 1838 (CAT. NO. 16) which merges his similarly we see a small group of indigenous figures. landscape, the representation as conceived wilderness scenes were in great demand scientific approach to topography and interest This inclusion suggests the site is one unseen by the trained western eye of spectacular within the wider field of Australian landscape in climatic conditions—honed after two years by European eyes despite this being an antipodean scenery: remote, geographically painting. The rise in the genre’s popularity aboard Charles Darwin’s Beagle—with the unlikely proposition by the time of Clark’s distinctive, daunting in scale and ostensibly can be attributed in large part, to the arrival romanticism of his earlier training in England. sketching visits. inaccessible (at least, at the time, from of European-trained artists Eugène von Soon after his arrival in Sydney in 1835, Even more visually spectacular are a European perspective) to all but intrepid Guérard and Nicholas Chevalier in 1852 Martens travelled to the Illawarra region the Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, naturalists and explorers whose quest for and 1855 respectively. and the Blue Mountains. In August 1836 a location depicted by a number of late-colonial knowledge of the unknown resonated still Lured to Australia by the Victorian gold rush, he was the guest of Charles Throsby Junior artists. With two drops, a total height of 187 with the influential theories of the German von Guérard and Chevalier had little success at Throsby Park near Moss Vale in New South metres and a location within a vast mountain naturalist, Alexander von Humboldt (1769 –1859). at the goldfields and both soon sought local Wales, the Quarrooilli Falls being located range, the Weatherboard Falls provided a While 19th century American audiences imagery and patronage to support their artistic on the family’s property. Martens is known supremely dramatic vista that was painted marvelled at the wilderness landscapes of careers. While early Australian works by to have completed a number of depictions on numerous occasions by von Guérard Frederic Edwin Church, Albert Bierstadt and von Guérard such as Tower Hill, 1855 (CAT. NO. 22) of the scenic falls (re-named the Fitzroy and James Howe Carse. Thomas Cole, their counterparts here were in and Lake Gnotuk, 1857 (CAT. NO. 23) reveal his Falls in 1850). Adopting similar vantage points in their thrall to the no less majestic Australian scenery interest in the more remote areas of Victoria After arriving in Australia in 1840, painter respective versions of 1863 (CAT. NO. 25) and depicted by artists including Conrad Martens, and their distinctive geological features, it was and lithographer John Skinner Prout extensively 1876 (CAT. NO. 5), von Guérard and Carse each Eugène von Guérard, Nicholas Chevalier, the excursions made by von Guérard and toured New South Wales and published views include representations of indigenous figures Thomas Clark and Piguenit, whose works Chevalier as they accompanied explorers and of the colony in a set of lithographs titled in the foreground: again, a nostalgic reminder are the mainstay of The silent wilderness. scientists throughout the colony that provided Sydney Illustrated. Residing in Van Diemen’s of a time prior to the encroachment in the It is my pleasure to acknowledge with the artists with even greater access to the Land from 1844 – 48, Prout made several region of non-indigenous people. The first grateful thanks the public and private lenders vistas that inspired romantic wilderness sketching trips of the island: these travels official crossing of the Blue Mountains of works to the exhibition without whose paintings (defined broadly here as mountain informed a new lithographic series, Tasmania by European settlers had been made in 1813, co-operation the project could not have been ranges, waterfalls, forests and lakes). Illustrated, published in two volumes in 1844 and by the 1870s the area had become a realised. Personal thanks for their unhesitating At various times between 1858 and 1864, and 1846. Although not part of this series, popular tourist destination, aided greatly by assistance go to colleagues at the following von Guérard and Chevalier joined early Prout’s lithograph The Wellington Falls, Hobart the establishment of a train line from Penrith institutions: Art Gallery of Ballarat; Art Gallery expeditions conducted by explorer and natural Town, 1845 (CAT. NO. 19) holds a significant place to Weatherboard Station in 1865. of South Australia; Art Gallery of Western scientist Alfred Howitt, and noted meteorologist in the history of local printmaking as the Equally popular as a subject in colonial Australia; Fisheries and Wildlife Division, Georg Balthasar von Neumayer within Victoria first colour lithograph from multiple stones painting was the spectacular Govett’s Leap Ministry for Conservation, Victoria (courtesy (and just beyond). These expeditions were printed in Australia. The work was described in the Blue Mountains. Von Guérard’s Govett’s of Warrnambool Art Gallery); Ian Potter largely initiated as a result of the burgeoning in a contemporary newspaper report as Leap and Grose River Valley, Blue Mountains, Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne; interest in the topography and natural resources conveying ‘a correct impression of the wild, New South Wales, 1873 (CAT. NO. 31), painted National Gallery of Australia; National of the new colony that had been prompted yet sublime, grandeur of the scenery which some fourteen years after the artist visited Gallery of Victoria; State Library of Victoria; by the discovery of gold in the early-1850s. the “falls” present’.iii the region, captures the innate grandeur and Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. Von Guérard’s and Chevalier’s participation In 1845, Prout journeyed to Lake St Clair of the landscape. This is emphasised by We are also very much indebted for a major in these expeditions enabled both artists in central Tasmania—south of Cradle Mountain the relatively small scale of the excursion party loan to a Private collection (courtesy of to create works depicting awe-inspiring terrain and now part of the Tasmanian World Heritage in the foreground, members of which appear Sotheby’s Australia). not previously seen by the new colonists. Wilderness area—inspired by sketches of the to be dwarfed by the vastness of the rock We thank Arts Victoria for indemnification They subsequently played a key role in area by the colony’s former surveyor, George formations and deep valley. of the exhibition through the Victorian fostering interest in this genre from the Frankland. These drawings revealed ‘glimpses While the popularity of wilderness scenes Indemnification Scheme, we warmly late-1850s until the late-1860s, particularly of scenery full of natural grandeur, of unchecked was beginning to wane amongst the buying acknowledge Parks Victoria for generous within Melbourne’s cultural scene. wildness, and savage majesty’, according public by the 1870s, particularly as many of and enthusiastic support of the project, Paintings and lithographs by Chevalier and to Prout.iv The oil painting [Waterfall near Lake the destinations had become more accessible and we salute David Pidgeon and Kate Rogers von Guérard in the current exhibition that depict St Clair, Tasmania], 1847 (CAT. NO. 20), as well as to the public at large, a number of artists at Design By Pidgeon for the design of this locations such as the Parker River waterfall his earlier lithograph, display the artist’s ability continued to work in this idealistic genre. publication that has been expertly printed at Cape Otway, Cumberland Creek near Apollo to successfully depict—in diverse media— The remote landscape of the island of his by our print partner, Adams Print. Bay, Mount Arapiles in the Wimmera, the the atmospheric effects of cascading water. birth remained a constant motif within the Finally, I pay tribute to all members of this Wannon Falls near Hamilton, as well as the Among the most popular Australian oeuvre of Tasmanian artist William Charles Gallery’s staff who have worked in one capacity Moroka River Falls in Gippsland and Mount waterfalls for 19th century artists were the Piguenit. In his early career as a draftsman for or another on this exhibition while our Curator, Kosciusko in New South Wales reflect the Wannon Falls in the Western District of Victoria the Tasmanian Lands and Survey Department Lisa Sullivan, has had carriage of the overall extent of the artists’ journeys with Howitt and the Weatherboard Falls (now known as he prepared maps of the colony that often project from conception to presentation and Neumayer through ‘untravelled wilds and the Wentworth Falls) in the Blue Mountains, incorporated landscape scenery. Most as well as writing the accompanying essay primeval solitudes’, and, particularly in the case New South Wales. importantly, the role brought him into contact and checklist of works. of von Guérard, his attention to topographical The two falls of the Wannon—the upper with a number of the island’s surveyors, detail in depicting what was to these and lower—were a subject that Victorian-based scientists and explorers with whom he travelled Geoffrey Edwards European-trained artists, a foreign landscape.ii artist Thomas Clark returned to throughout the to its more remote areas ‘to bear testimony, Director, Geelong Gallery In joining scientific expeditions, Chevalier 1860s. In Clark’s Falls on the Wannon, c. 1860 from an artist’s point of view, to the wealth and von Guérard were following in a well- (CAT. NO. 13) the artist adopts a novel viewpoint, of beauty that exists, comparatively unknown, established tradition, which dates in Australian unlike those adopted by von Guérard, in this terra incognita ...’v Despite relocating to Sydney in 1880, Buffalo. In images such as Eurobin Falls, List of works CAT. NO. 9 William Charles Piguenit CAT. NO. 24 with Charles Troedel (printer) born Australia 1836; Spring in the valley of the Piguenit made repeat visits to Tasmania: Buffalo Mountains, c. 1880s (CAT. NO. 2) and all works height by width Ferntree Gully, Mt Useful, died Australia 1914 Mitta Mitta with Bogong one such trip in 1884 is likely to have been The Hump, Buffalo Mountains, c. 1880s in cm Gippsland 1865 Ranges in the distance 1863 colour lithograph CAT. NO. 17 oil on canvas the inspiration both for Fern tree valley, Huon, (CAT. NO. 3), the photographer employs a popular Nicholas Caire Fern tree valley, Huon, born Guernsey 1837; 32.8 x 24.4 43.2 x 69.0 Tasmania, 1884 (CAT. NO. 17) and A mountain visual device used by many of the earlier National Gallery Tasmania 1884 National Gallery arrived Australia 1858; oil on canvas top, Tasmania, c. 1886 (CAT. NO. 18). The artist painters of wilderness scenes: the inclusion died Australia 1918 of Australia, Canberra of Victoria, Melbourne Purchased 1976 91.5 x 66.0 The Joseph Brown Collection. may have also drawn from the extensive of a figure in the foreground to provide a sense CAT. NO. 1 Art Gallery of Western Presented through the NGV sketchbooks and notes that he is known of scale and to emphasise the grandeur of Scene on the Black Spur, CAT. NO. 10 Australia, Perth Foundation by Dr Joseph Brown Nr Fernshaw, Victoria c. 1870 with Charles Troedel (printer) Purchased 1976 AO OBE, Honorary Life to have kept throughout his career. the Australian landscape. Mount Arapiles sunset 1865 albumen silver photograph CAT. NO. 18 Benefactor, 2004 Similarly exacting in his preparatory Caire’s photographs provided an alternative 18.2 x 12.3 colour lithograph 20.8 x 31.8 A mountain top, CAT. NO. 25 sketches and documentation, von Guérard format for recording the landscape, as did National Gallery Tasmania c. 1886 of Australia, Canberra National Gallery The Weatherboard Falls 1863 made two visits to Tasmania during his time the lithographs based on wilderness paintings of Australia, Canberra oil on canvas oil on canvas in Australia: the first in1855 , and again twenty published in Eugène von Guérard’s Australian CAT. NO. 2 Purchased 2007 76.0 x 127.5 46.2 x 76.2 Eurobin Falls, Buffalo Tasmanian Museum Geelong Gallery, Victoria years later with the specific intention of Landscapes and N Chevalier’s Album of CAT. NO. 11 Mountains c. 1880s and Art Gallery, Hobart Gift of Alfred Felton, 1900 travelling to the Great Lake in the centre of Chromo Lithographs in the mid-1860s. Such gelatin silver photograph with Charles Troedel (printer) Presented 1955 by the the island. Von Guérard’s sweeping vista, The publications vastly increased the exposure 22.5 x 15.3 Serpentine Creek Falls, Tasmanian Government CAT. NO. 26 National Gallery McAlister River, with Hamel & Ferguson (printer) Great Lake, Tasmania, 1875 (CAT. NO. 32), has been of the original images, providing information Gippsland 1865 John Skinner Prout Ferntree Gully, Dandenong of Australia, Canberra born England 1805; referred to as one of the defining wilderness to the wider community about the inaccessible Purchased 1983 colour lithograph Ranges (Victoria) 1867 33.2 x 24.8 arrived Australia 1840; colour lithograph images in 19th century Australian art. areas of the colonies. CAT. NO. 3 National Gallery died England 1876 32.5 x 51.0 This work, as do von Guérard’s many other While it is difficult to assess the exact The Hump, Buffalo of Australia, Canberra CAT. NO. 19 The University of Melbourne extraordinarily detailed paintings of wilderness extent of the influence that the wilderness Mountains c. 1880s Purchased 1976 with Thomas Bluett (printer) Art Collection, Melbourne gelatin silver photograph imagery, provides an important record of genre in Australian art had at the height of its CAT. NO. 12 The Wellington Falls, CAT. NO. 27 22.4 x 14.9 Hobart Town 1845 National Gallery with Charles Troedel (printer) with Hamel & Ferguson (printer) the landscape in its purest form, prior to the popularity on the movement for environmental Wannon Falls 1865 colour lithograph with Forest, Cape Otway incursions of European settlers. Indeed, protection, it is significant that Australia’s of Australia, Canberra additional hand-colouring Purchased 1983 colour lithograph with Ranges 1867 the accuracy of the artist’s rendering of plant first national parks were established in the additional hand-colouring 38.2 x 26.9 colour lithograph CAT. NO. 4 33.2 x 24.8 National Gallery 32.5 x 51.0 life in his 1855 painting Tower Hill, for example, late-19th century: in New South Wales in 1879, Fern gully at Gembrook National Gallery of Australia, Canberra The University of Melbourne informed the careful re-vegetation of the area for example, and Victoria in 1898. Certain c. 1896, printed c. 1900s of Australia, Canberra Purchased 2006 Art Collection, Melbourne gelatin silver photograph Purchased 1978 by the Victorian Ministry for Conservation of the sites popularised in the 19th century CAT. NO. 20 CAT. NO. 28 20.4 x 14.9 [Waterfall near Lake St Clair, in recent years. paintings, but perhaps wilderness regions National Gallery Thomas Clark with Hamel & Ferguson (printer) born England c. 1814; Tasmania] 1847 Moroka River Falls, Conversely, in some instances, the in general, continue to engage artists in the of Australia, Canberra oil on board Purchased 1983 arrived Australia c. 1852; (foot of Mount Kent) popularity of wilderness paintings in their day 21st century—even if the contemporary idiom died Australia 1883 44.9 x 34.8 (Gipps Land) 1867– 68 led to an increased interest in the actual does not necessarily enjoy the same high James Howe Carse Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria [in Eugène von Guérard’s born Scotland c. 1818; CAT. NO. 13 Purchased with funds Australian Landscapes] locations themselves, resulting in the potential profile as did the late-colonial equivalent. arrived Australia c. 1867; Falls on the Wannon c. 1860 from the Wendouree colour lithograph for environmental impact from unchecked With ever increasing community awareness died Australia 1900 oil on canvas Charitable Trust, 1975 49.8 x 67.4 92.0 x 138.0 visitation. One such example is von Guérard’s of the significance and vulnerability of the Edward Roper Geelong Gallery, Victoria CAT. NO. 5 National Gallery Gift of Miss Gladys Bell, 1945 1857 painting Ferntree Gully in the Dandenong natural environment, these early images of [The Weatherboard Falls, of Victoria, Melbourne born England c. 1830; Ranges (in the collection of the National wilderness scenery are rare and indispensable Blue Mountains] 1876 Felton Bequest, 1973 arrived Australia c. 1854; CAT. NO. 29 oil on canvas died England 1909 with Hamel & Ferguson (printer) Gallery of Australia): one of the most records of the appearance of the Australian 61.4 x 107. 0 CAT. NO. 14 Reedy Creek Falls, near [The upper falls on CAT. NO. 21 celebrated Australian paintings of its day. landscape more or less as the notional National Gallery In a fern tree gully, Beechworth 1867 of Victoria, Melbourne the Wannon] 1867 colour lithograph Ten years after von Guérard completed this terra incognita—the unknown land (to non- oil on canvas Mount Dandenong c. 1867 The Joseph Brown oil on canvas 32.5 x 48.0 work, a lithographic version was one of indigenous eyes) prior to an era of European Collection. Presented through 76.5 x 122.5 The University of Melbourne National Gallery 39.3 x 77.7 24 plates published in Eugène von Guérard’s exploration, discovery and settlement. These the NGV Foundation by Dr Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria Art Collection, Melbourne Joseph Brown AO OBE, of Victoria, Melbourne Australian Landscapes, by which time the works serve today, as they did previously, The Joseph Brown Gift of Mr and Mrs CAT. NO. 30 Honorary Andrew Ferry, 1986 image’s accompanying text referred to as glorious pictorial celebrations of Australia’s Life Benefactor, 2004 Collection. Presented through with Thomas McLean the NGV Foundation by Dr (publisher) the presence of ‘a comfortable hotel in its acclaimed natural heritage. Eugène von Guérard Nicholas Chevalier Joseph Brown AO OBE, born Austria 1811; North east view from the immediate neighbourhood’ and ‘the Gully born Russia 1828; Honorary arrived Australia 1852; top of Mount Kosciusko, [being] a favourite resort for summer tourists’. Lisa Sullivan arrived Australia 1855; Life Benefactor, 2004 died England 1901 New South Wales 1867– 68 died England 1902 colour lithograph James Waltham Curtis The popularity of von Guérard’s painting Curator, Geelong Gallery CAT. NO. 22 31.5 x 49.5 and the subsequent lithograph, Ferntree Gully, CAT. NO. 6 born England 1839; arrived Tower Hill 1855 Geelong Gallery, Victoria Parker River waterfall, Australia c. 1850s; died 1901 oil on canvas Purchased through Dandenong Ranges (Victoria), 1867 (CAT. NO. 26) i George French Angas, South Australia Illustrated, 1847, Cape Otway 1862 68.0 x 122.0 donations, 2008 preface. Cited in Tim Bonyhady, Images in Opposition – oil on canvas CAT. NO. 15 could be considered an extension of the Station Peak, You Yangs 1875 Fisheries and Wildlife Australian Landscape Painting 1801–1890, Oxford University 130.8 x 183.4 CAT. NO. 31 mid-19th century enthusiasm for ferns and Press Australia, Melbourne, 1991, p. 59 oil on canvas Division, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria Ministry for Conservation, Govett’s Leap and Grose fern-growing which spread from England Bequest of Mrs Blondel, 1923 61.5 x 91.5 River Valley, Blue Mountains, ii ‘Professor Neumayer’s scientific tour in Victoria’, The Mercury Geelong Gallery, Victoria Victoria, Melbourne to the colonies. This phenomenon was largely (Hobart), 12 July 1862, p. 6 Gift of Mrs E Thornton New South Wales 1873 CAT. NO. 7 Acquired 1963 oil on canvas [Red Rock, Colac] 1862– 63 inspired by the writings of the German iii Hobart Town Courier, 17 April 1845, p. 2. Cited in Roger Butler, CAT. NO. 23 68.5 x 106.4 oil on canvas Conrad Martens naturalist Alexander von Humboldt who, Printed – Images in Colonial Australia 1801–1901, National born England 1801; Lake Gnotuk 1857 National Gallery Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2007, p. 165 58.5 x 91.5 oil on canvas of Australia, Canberra among other subjects, championed the exotic Picture Collection, arrived Australia 1835; died Australia 1878 35.2 x 56.7 Purchased 2000 flora of specific geographical regions. iv John Skinner Prout, The Sketcher in Tasmania, 1862, p. 275. State Library of Victoria, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria Towards the latter part of the 19th century, Cited in Bonyhady, p. 64 Melbourne CAT. NO. 16 Gift of Lady Currie in memory CAT. NO. 32 The Great Lake, Tasmania 1875 v William Charles Piguenit, ‘The Western Highlands of Fall of the Quarrooilli 1838 of her husband, the late photographer Nicholas Caire also depicted lush CAT. NO. 8 oil on canvas Tasmania’, The Mercury (Hobart), 24 September 1887, p. 3. Cumberland Creek, watercolour Sir Alan Currie, 1949 73.7 x 149.8 fern forests, as well as mountain peaks and Cited in Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, WC Piguenit 45.0 x 65.6 near Apollo Bay 1863 Private collection flowing waterfalls. In the mid-1860s and 1880s, 1836 –1914, ex. cat., Hobart, 1992, p. 9 oil on canvas National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Courtesy of Sotheby’s Caire photographed several of the locations 46.0 x 61.2 Australia, Melbourne Art Gallery of South Felton Bequest, 1950 that had earlier been toured by von Guérard Australia, Adelaide and Chevalier, including Gippsland and Mount South Australian Government Grant 1976 CAT. NO. 13

CAT. NO. 8 CAT. NO. 31 CAT. NO. 25 CAT. NO. 9

CAT. NO. 6 ISBN reproduced asdetails CAT. NOS6&25 LEFT Photographed by Robert Colvin Tasmanian Government Presented 1955 by the and Art Gallery, Hobart Tasmanian Museum oil oncanvas Tasmania c. (detail) 1886 top, A mountain CharlesPiguenit William COVER www.geelonggallery.org.au F 03522 T 0352293645 Geelong Victoria Little MalopStreet Melbourne; of Victoria, Canberra; of Australia,the NationalGallery Australia, Adelaide; ofSouth of the Art Gallery CAT. NO. 8 CAT. NO. 6 PERMISSIONS PRINT RUN STOCK Adams Print PRINTING PRODUCTION AND TYPESET IN Design ByPidgeon CATALOGUE DESIGN Geelong Gallery, PUBLISHER without written permission. be reproducedby any process Copyright Act, no partmay as permitted underthe research, criticismorreview for thepurposesofprivate study, Apart fromany fair dealing This publicationiscopyright. © GeelongGallery & 31 2 1 Geelong Gallery 19th century Australian landscapes The silentwilderness Geelong Gallery Gallery, Hobart. Tasmanian Museumand Art reproduced courtesyofthe the Art Gallery ofBallarat,the Art Gallery Victoria; courtesy of the National Gallery courtesy oftheNationalGallery 8 1 September to Septemberto November reproduced courtesy of reproducedcourtesyof

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The Geelong Gallery is supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Nagle & Co Victoria and the Community Support Fund, and through the Visual Arts and Chartered Indemnification for this exhibition is Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments. Accountants provided by the Victorian Government.