Eugene von Guérard:
Nature Revealed
Eugene von Guérard (1811–1901) is one of Australia’s, and certainly
Victoria’s, most important colonial landscape painters. Von Guérard’s
works, which have not been the subject of a dedicated exhibition
since 1980, are remarkable in their detail and greatly valued for
their depiction of Australian landscapes of the mid 1800s.
‘Eugene von Guérard: Nature
Revealed’, a National Gallery of
Victoria touring exhibition, curated by
Dr Ruth Pullin, included many of the
artist’s beloved iconic landscapes, as
well as several sketches and some
never-before-seen paintings.
Born in Vienna and trained as a
painter in the European art centres
of Rome, Naples and Düsseldorf,
Von Guérard migrated to Australia in
1852. This exhibition demonstrated
how his artistic endeavours in
Australia were informed by his
interest in the geography, geology
and vegetation of the Australian ‘New
World’. His representations of the
forests of Gippsland and the Otways,
the crater lakes of Victoria’s volcanic
Western District and the peaks of the
Kosciuszko plateau hold important
environmental significance today.
Through Von Guérard detailed
brushstrokes and breathtaking
compositions, visitors were invited
to explore the magnificent Australian,
New Zealand and European
landscapes he captured on his
expeditions around the world.
17 DECEMBER 2011 – 4 MARCH 2012
QAG
1 / Installation view of the National
Gallery of Victoria’s
Weatherboard Creek
Falls, Jamieson’s Valley, New South Wales
1862 by Eugene von Guérard, in ‘Eugene
von Guérard: Nature Revealed’ at the
Queensland Art Gallery, January 2012
2 / (l–r) Dr Gerard Vaughan, then Director,
National Gallery of Victoria; Tony
Ellwood, then Director, QAGOMA; Angela
Goddard, Curator, Australian Art to 1975,
QAGOMA; exhibition curator Dr Ruth
Pullin; and Tim Fairfax,
AM
, President,
Queensland Art Gallery Foundation,
at the Official Opening and Foundation
Viewing of ‘Eugene von Guérard: Nature
Revealed’ at the Queensland Art Gallery,
December 2011
3 / Installation view of ‘Eugene von
Guérard: Nature Revealed’ at the
Queensland Art Gallery, December 2011
30
// REWIND
/ REVIEW 2012
