Eugene von Guerard sketchbooks, 1835-1900, including sketches drawn in Italy and Germany, 1835-1852; Australia 1854-1891; Europe and England, 1891-1900

fonds

1835-1900

Graphic Materials, Drawings, Textual Records

879582

32 sketchbooks
1 notebook of textual material

Eugene von Guerard was born in Austria in 1811, son of the court painter to the Emperor Francis I. He studied in the Düsseldorf Academy and travelled in Germany and Italy before arriving in Melbourne in 1853. He soon made his way to the Ballarat gold fields, where he did a number of sketches, and later travelled in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania.

In 1870 he was appointed Curator of the National Gallery of Victoria and Principle of its Art School, where he remained until his retirement in 1881. He then returned to Europe and died in London in 1901. He was highly regarded as a landscape artist and painted a number of commissions in Victoria. His topographical style is very detailed and precise.

Reference:
Library correspondence file

Further biographical details:
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/

The Clune Galleries acquired the sketchbooks and notebook from von Guerard's grandson in England.

The sketchbooks cover von Guerard’s twenty-eight years in Australia and also the period of his early travels in the Rhineland and Italy and his return to Europe after 1881, that is virtually his whole painting career. The drawings range from pencil sketches to detailed pen and ink or pencil drawings, a few with colour or wash added. The sketchbooks contain general views as well as detailed sketches of specific places and subjects.

Von Guerard accompanied A.W. Howitt on a scientific expedition and Professor Neumayer, the meteorologist, on another. There are sketches of both these expeditions, as well as studies of Aborigines, Chinese in Melbourne, homesteads, huts, and scenes in Sydney, Parramatta, Wollongong and the Shoalhaven district, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. Nearly all of the sketches are dated and titled and there are some added notes in German.

SERIES 01
Sketchbooks used in Italy and Germany, 1835-1852 / by Eugen von Guerard
8 sketchbooks
Volumes 1-7 purchased from Clune Galleries, July 1970
Volume 8 purchased from Deutscher-Menzies, Melbourne, September 1998

SERIES 02
Sketchbooks used in Australia, 1854-1891 / by Eugen von Guerard
18 sketchbooks
Volumes 1-17 purchased from the Clune Galleries, 1970
Volume 14a purchased from Frank McDonald (previously Clune Galleries), 1975

SERIES 03
Sketchbooks used in England, 1891-1900, includes Dusseldorf and six Australian sketches, 1849-1872 / by Eugen von Guerard
6 sketchbooks and 1 notebook
Volumes 1-7 purchased from Clune Galleries, July 1970

Out of copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Dixson Galleries, State Library of New South Wales

Eugene von Guerard, 1811-1901 : a German romantic in the Antipodes / Candice Bruce, Edward Comstock & Frank McDonald. Martinborough, N.Z. : Alister Taylor ; Sydney, N.S.W. : distribution by Hedley Australia, 1982.