[photo: Charles Nettleton: Sculpture Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, albumen silver photo, c.1872, detail (SLV H96.160/1789)] Two major groups of entries have been added since this site was launched in July 2020: Illustrated Books, a new category. Initially, the books catalogued have been limited to significant examples acquired up to 1861 (with linked artist
Canova, Antonio (1757-1822; Italian) [after] Two lions Bronze Acquired by 1865 Present location unknown The famous lions from Canova’s tomb of Pope Clement XIII (St Peter’s Basilica, 1783-92), one vigilant and the other asleep, have often been reproduced at reduced scale. A full-scale bronze pair, cast from the originals, was installed outside the Corcoran Gallery
Gauci, Maxim (1774-1854; Maltese/English) (?) George Augustus Robinson Lithograph, c.37.1 x 25.6 cm Acquired by 1865 Present location unknown Robinson (1791-1866), a builder by trade, and a devout Christian and lay preacher, migrated to Hobart in 1824. In 1828, he was appointed by Lt-Governor George Arthur to attempt a “conciliation” between Tasmanian settlers and the
Hymans, Henri (1836-1912; Belgian), after Induno, Gerolamo (1825-90; Italian) Popolane di Roma {sic} Engraving Presented by the Belgian government, 1868 Present location unknown Hymans, besides being a print-maker, was also an art historian and curator of prints at the Bibliothèque royale in Brussels. Induno studied at the Brera Academy in his native Milan from 1839-46
Meunier, Jean Baptiste (1821-1900; Belgian), after Madou, Jean Baptiste (1796-1877; Belgian) L’Arquebusier Engraving, c.46.8 x 39.7 cm Presented by the Belgian government, c.1868 Present location unknown Madou worked as a genre painter and print-maker. Meunier was a noted Belgian etcher; he also taught his brother Constantin (1831-1905), a sculptor and realist painter, and his son
Desvachez, David Joseph (1822-1902; Belgian) after Raphael (1483-1520; Italian) La vierge au livre [Conestabile Madonna] Engraving, c.45 x 112 cm Presented by the Belgian Government, probably 1868 Present location unknown Raphael’s tiny devotional painting dates from just before the artist moved from Umbria to Florence in 1504. Previously owned by the Conestabile family, Perugia (as noted
Copeland & Sons (after others) The Prince and Princess of Wales Parian busts Presented by the Art Union of London, by 1871 Present collection unknown In the absence of further information or photographs, it is difficult to be certain of the precise identity of these two busts, listed as shown above in AR 1870-71, since several
Unknown (English 19C [Copeland & Sons?]) Clytie Parian porcelain Presented by William Taylor Copeland, Esq., by 1865 Present location unknown The details listed above appear in NGV 1865 and AR 1870-71, clearly describing this work as a bust “from the antique in the British Museum, in Parian” (for this medium, see * Bonham Carter Florence
Unknown sculptor Cupid Bronze Presented by John Airey, by 1865 Unidentified; current location unknown This work is listed in the 1865 NGV catalogue (with the details noted above), but not thereafter. The donor may have been John Moore Cole Airey (c.1811-93), the member for Port Phillip in the NSW Legislative council, 1847-48. Aireys Inlet in
Gibson, John (1790-1866; Welsh), after Venus and Cupid Parian porcelain Presented by Rev.W.Wade, by 1861 Present location unknown This work was first listed in the 1861 MPL catalogue (under donations to the new Museum of Art), then in the 1865 NGV catalogue, describing it as an Art Union prize, “in Parian marble,” and then in
[engraving by Samuel Calvert, published in the Illustrated Australian News, 14 June 1875] Among various recognizable works, * Giambologna [after] Rape of the Sabines {1878} Loc? [SC] (no longer in the collection) is prominent. The room, later re-named the McArthur Gallery, how houses the State Library’s Family History collection.
NB both the NGV and SLV provide over-arching messages concerning Aboriginal images, advising that deceased people may be represented, that care has been taken to avoid including images of a sensitive nature, and that terms and conditions concerning any work may have been imposed by Indigenous communities. Similar advice and provisos apply to works in
Chronologically, the pre-Felton era corresponds, more or less, with the first phase of modernism, as generally understood by cultural historians. Richard Brettall, for instance, in his Oxford History of Art volume Modern Art 1851-1929 (1999), argues that the Great Exhibition of 1851 ushered in the era of modernity, exemplified not only by the remarkable iron and
One of the pre-Felton sculptures de-accessioned in the 1940s was a marble group by British sculptor George Halse, called Advance, Australia. Carved in 1865 and donated to the NGV in 1891, it encapsulates the idea of colonial Australia as a naïve adolescent venturing out from under the protective embrace of Britannia “into the clear open
Melbourne architect Joseph Reed (c.1823-90) won the competition for the Melbourne Public Library in 1854, and the original building (the main section of the existing west façade on Swanston Street) was built in stages through to 1864; see also Queen’s Hall. A more grandiose domed scheme for the entire block by Reed (1859) did not
NB both the NGV and SLV provide over-arching messages concerning Aboriginal images, advising that deceased people may be represented, that care has been taken to avoid including images of a sensitive nature, and that terms and conditions concerning any work may have been imposed by Indigenous communities. Similar advice and provisos apply to all works
As mentioned under Introductory Remarks, this catalogue aims to provide as complete as possible an account of the NGV collection as it had evolved by 1904. In the spirit of full disclosure, though, a few exceptions to this rule are noted below. [photo: “Nelson’s teapot,” made in Sheffield, c.1790. NGV (875-D1M) (donated by Frederic Tate
Queen Victoria, who reigned for 64 years (1837-1901), was a strong presence in the pre-Felton gallery, although she never visited Australia. Several images of her and her family were held in the collection, and in 1893 she donated a fascinating group of etchings made by herself and Prince Albert in the 1840s. Works by a
In his role as Victoria’s third Governor (1856-63), Barkly formally welcomed the formation of the new Museum of Art in May 1861 as “…the auspicious commencement of so grand a design.” (see Inglis & others 2011). The various portraits of Barkly listed below (evidence of the esteem in which he was held) were all completed
[photo: Hangard-Maugé & Schultz after Jan & Hubert van Eyck: lithographic reproduction (1868) of the Ghent Altarpiece (NGV, purchased 1868)] In several meticulously-researched studies, Melbourne art historian Alison Inglis has emphasized the reliance of both private and public collections in colonial Australia on “replicas, reproductions and copies.” Although the modernist “tradition of the new”
This scholarship, instituted by G.F.Folingsby, was first awarded to John Longstaff in 1887. The terms of the award dictated that at least one original canvas and two Old Master copies from each recipient be added to the Melbourne collection. Other recipients during the pre-Felton period were Aby Altson [1890], James Quinn [1893], George Coates [1896], Max
In 1879, George Collins Levey (1835-1919), a British-born journalist and newspaper editor who lived and worked in Australia, mostly in Melbourne, between 1851 and c.1883, donated a substantial collection of prints to the NGV – arguably the most significant donation to the gallery prior to the Felton Bequest. (For Levey, see in particular the biography
As reported in the Melbourne Age (19 May 1943), a group of 19 sculptures was auctioned off at the NGV by Mr Leonard Joel: see attached report (via Trove). Some 15 of these were pre-Felton acquisitions. This sale was part of the larger process of extensive culling of the Melbourne collection (mostly Victorian-era works) carried out between
[comparative photo: cover of the 13 Sept.1888 issue of The Graphic, showing the opening of the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition] Established in 1869, The Graphic was a significant platform for black and white illustrators of the period, continuing weekly publication until 1932. Founded to compete with the established Illustrated London News, it attracted many of the best graphic
[photo: William Bligh (no.9)] This series of portraits of colonial governors was initiated by Redmond Barry and the Melbourne Public Library Trustees in 1866. Most of them appear to have been produced during the 1860s and 1870s, although new examples were still being added in the 1880s. In the gallery’s annual reports, they are usually described as “painted photographic
This wood engraving, published in The Australasian Sketcher, 4 June 1883, provides an exciting if possibly exaggerated view of the tumultuous Sunday crowd at the NGV, hurrying past the two zinc lions formerly guarding the entrance, in their eagerness to see Herbert Moses bringing down the Tablets of the Law (acquired in 1878) and the
This photograph was presumably taken in the 1860s or 1870s, and cannot date from any earlier than 1862, since it includes on the balcony at the back the Burmese Buddha acquired in that year: see now introduction to Asian art, with a detail of this photo. Housed on the first floor of the Melbourne Public
Maull & Fox photographers (English; active 1879ff.) Portrait of Edward Jones Brewster Carbon print, 60 x 45 cm (mounted and framed) Presented by his widow 1901 State Library of Victoria (H5419) Brewster (c.1812-98) completed his law studies in Dublin in 1835, and was one of the first six barristers admitted to the Port Phillip bar in 1854
Unknown photographer/artist John Pascoe Fawkner Coloured photograph Acquired by 1894 This work, listed in both the 1894 and 1905 NGV catalogues, does not appear to be extant. None of the several older SLV images of Fawkner, by Batchelder & co. (c.1867) and others, appears to correspond – and many were acquired after 1894. Nor is there
Unknown photographer/s 24 views in Devon and Cornwall Presented by the Great Western Railway Company 1877 Location unknown These photos do not appear to be extant in either the NGV or SLV. The Great Western Railway Company was particularly famous for its later 19th and earlier 20th century posters, advertising the alleged delights of beach resorts in Devon