Watts, George Frederic (1817-1904; English) Love and Death (c.1887) Oil on canvas, 114.3 x 57.3 cm Purchased, 1888 National Gallery of Victoria (p.312.5-1) One of several variants by Watts of this classic late Victorian subject (there is also a late example in the AGSA), this canvas was bought from the Centennial Exhibition in Melbourne in
Watts, George Frederic (1817-1904; English) Alfred Tennyson (1858) Oil on wood panel, 61.0 x 50.4 cm Purchased, 1888 National Gallery of Victoria (p.312.9-1) This work was bought from the Centennial Exhibition staged in Melbourne in 1888, together with Watts Love and Death {1888} NGV [PA]. The famous Victorian poet (1809-92), a friend of the painter,
Waterhouse, John William (1849-1917; English) Ulysses and the Sirens 1891 Oil on canvas, 100.6 x 202.0 cm Purchased, 1891 (advice of Hubert von Herkomer) National Gallery of Victoria (p.396.3-1) Herkomer’s recommendation of this work (quoted at length in NGV 1894) included enthusiastic comment on its vivid depiction of the episode in Homer’s Odyssey, meticulous research
Ward, James (1769-1859; English) Sheep Oil on wood panel, 21.5 x 30.1 cm Purchased, 1903 (advice of Bernard Hall) National Gallery of Victoria (133-2) Yet another pre-Felton image of sheep or cattle, this small panel was bought from the local sale of works formerly owned by Melbourne solicitor William Lynch (from whose collection several works were
Ward, Edward Matthew (1816-79; English) Josephine signing the Act of her Divorce 1853 Oil on canvas, 133.6 x 167.6 cm Purchased, 1888 National Gallery of Victoria (p.313.1-1) “This picture represents an event which took place in the Grand Cabinet of the Emperor Napoleon at the Tuileries on the evening of the 16th December, 1809” (NGV 1894).
Walton, Frank (1840-1928; English) ‘Summer has gone on swallows’ wings’ (c.1890) Oil on canvas, 152.7 x 121.8 cm Purchased, 1892 National Gallery of Victoria (p.398.2-1) The 1894 NGV catalogue indicates that this landscape was shown at the Royal Academy in 1891, and notes that the artist was a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water-Colours.
Waller, Samuel Edmund (1850-1903; English) Jealous 1875 Oil on canvas, 49.3 x 64.2 cm Purchased, 1875 (advice of Archibald Michie and Charles Gavan Duffy) National Gallery of Victoria (p.305.2-1) Like Schenck Anguish {1879} NGV [PA] and Rivière Deer Stealers 1875 {1876} NGV [PA] – but in a lighter vein – this painting correlates animal and human emotions. The painting
Walker, Frederick (1840-75; English) The Right of Way (1875) Oil on canvas, 78.5 x 112.0 cm Purchased, 1891 (advice of Hubert von Herkomer) National Gallery of Victoria (p.395.3-1) A widely-praised social realist painter and illustrator, Walker died of tuberculosis at the age of only 35. This charming painting, one of his last (it is unfinished), was praised
Waite, James Clarke (1832-1920; English) Abram Louis Buvelot 1894 Oil on canvas, 76.3 x 63.8 cm Presented by Waite, 1896 National Gallery of Victoria (24-2) A posthumous image of the so-called “father of Australian Impressionism,” who died at the age of 74 in 1888 (see linked entry on Buvelot for further details). Refs. AR 1896,
Waite, James Clarke (1832-1920; English/Australian) Coaxing Ways Oil on canvas, 60.8 x 50.9 cm Purchased, 1895 National Gallery of Victoria (16-2) Together with other works (see e.g. Withers Tranquil Winter 1895 {1895} NGV [PA]), this modest canvas was bought from the Victorian Artists’ Society, of which Waite was a foundation member. Refs. AR 1895, p.25; NGV
Guérard, Eugène von (1811-1901; Austrian/ Australian) Spring in the valley of the Mitta Mitta with the Bogong Ranges 1866 Oil on canvas, 68.3 x 106.7 cm Presented by Archibald Michie, 1866 National Gallery of Victoria (p.300.14-1) This work, the earliest of von Guérard’s works acquired for Melbourne, was donated together with Gritten View on Jackson’s
Guérard, Eugène von (1811-1901; Austrian/Australian) Mount Kosciusko, seen from the Victorian border (Mount Hope Ranges) 1866 Oil on canvas, 108.2 x 153.3 cm Purchased, 1870 National Gallery of Victoria (p.302.13-1) Like the artist’s well-known view from the summit of Mt Kosciuszko (NGA, Canberra, 1863), the present canvas was based on sketches he made during an arduous
Vibert, Jehan Georges (1840-1902; French) French Artists in a Spanish Posada (The Siesta) 1862 Oil on canvas, 73.4 x 99.4 cm Purchased, 1864 (advice of Sir Charles Eastlake) National Gallery of Victoria (p.301.8-1) This youthful work, with which Vibert debuted at the Paris Salon in 1863, helped make his name. It was one of the
Unterberger, Franz Richard (1838-1902; Austrian) The Gulf of Salerno Oil on canvas, c.114.34 x 101.6 cm Purchased, 1875; de-accessioned and sold at auction, 1950 Unidentified; present location unknown Based in Brussels, Unterberger exhibited throughout Europe and in America. By the 1870s, he was specializing mainly in picturesque Italian views peopled by stock Mediterranean types. This
Turner, J.M.W. (1775-1851; English) Dunstanborough Castle, North-East Coast of Northumberland, Sunrise after a Squally Night (1798) Oil on canvas, 92.2 x 123.2 cm Gift of the Duke of Westminster 1888 National Gallery of Victoria (313.3/1) This early canvas was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1798, when Turner was only 23. Evelyn Joll suggests that it may be
Tucker, Tudor St George (1862-1906; English/Australian) Maid of all work (c.1891) Oil on canvas, 125.4 x 76.0 cm Purchased, 1900 (advice of Bernard Hall) National Gallery of Victoria (62-2) Tucker, a talented artist, was a somewhat underestimated contributor to the development of Australian painting in the late 19th century. He migrated to Australia, for his health, in 1881,
Tschaggeny, Edmond Jean Baptiste (1818-73; Belgian) Sheep in repose 1864 Oil on canvas, 75 x 110 cm Purchased by the Commissioners of Fine Arts for Victoria, 1864 (advice of Sir Charles Eastlake) National Gallery of Victoria (p.301.6-1) One of the initial selections made by Eastlake, this painting was praised in The Australasian in 1864 for its
Toovey, Edwin (1835-1900; British) Flamborough Head Oil on canvas, c.90 x 152 cm Purchased, 1875; de-accessioned and sold at auction, 1950 Unidentified, present location unknown The 1894 catalogue lists this work as hanging in the McArthur Gallery, and provides some information on the subject, described as a spectacular section of the Yorkshire coastline. Information on the
Tocqué, Louis (1696-1772; French), attributed to Portrait of a Gentleman (c.1747) Oil on canvas, 60.0 x 45.0 cm Purchased, 1876 (advice of Eugène von Guérard) National Gallery of Victoria (303.5/1) This lively portrait was purchased, for a remarkably small sum, on the sage advice of von Guérard while he was Master of the National Gallery
Thunder, Annie (active c.1880-93; Australian?) Hon.Peter Lalor as Speaker 1893 Oil on canvas, 189 x 123 cm Presented by the Government of Victoria, 1895; transferred to SLV from NGV, 1951 State Library of Victoria (acc.no.H141871) Lalor (1827-89) famously led the Eureka Stockade in December 1854. Acquitted in March 1855, he was then appointed to the Victorian
Thompson, Elizabeth (1846-1933; English) The 28th Regiment at Quatre Bras 1875 Oil on canvas, 97.2 x 216.2 cm Purchased, 1884 (advice of Alfred Thomson) National Gallery of Victoria (p.309.9-1) This picture (whose elaborate frame is original, and suitably military in its detail) was voted the most popular work in the NGV by the visiting public in 1906.
Thomas, Margaret (1843-1929; Australian) Charles Summers 1866 Oil on canvas, 127.5 x 102.0 cm Presented by Margaret Thomas, 1881 State Library of Victoria (H248) Summers, a key figure in the early years of the Melbourne gallery (refer linked artist entry and entries on individual sculptures), is shown here with a model of his Burke and Wills
Taylor Ghee, Robert Edgar (1869-1951; Australian) Donnelly Creek, Healesville 1895 Oil in canvas, 100.6 x 44.0 cm Purchased, 1895 National Gallery of Victoria (13-2) This straightforward landscape was bought from the Victorian Artists’ Society (see also Withers Tranquil Winter 1895 {1895} NGV [PA] etc.). The frame is a contemporary production by the Melbourne firm of W.&
Tattegrain, Francis (1852-1915; French) The Convalescent (1884) Oil on canvas, 81.7 x 117.0 cm Gift of William Dean, 1885 National Gallery of Victoria (p.310.8-1) Shown at the Paris Salon in 1884, this work typifies the sentimental strain of later 19th-century French painting, while also giving the impression of a closely-cropped photograph. The artist, a native of Péronne, in
Swan, John Macallan (1847-1910) African panthers (1891) Oil on canvas, 35.6 x 61.4 cm Purchased, 1892 (advice of Hubert von Herkomer) National Gallery of Victoria (acc.no.p.397.4-1) While this work correlates with the taste for animal subjects typical of the NGV’s early history, these creatures are unusually wild, by comparison with other domestic or barnyard works (see
Streeton, Arthur (1867-1943; Australian) ‘The Purple Noon’s Transparent Might’ 1896 Oil on canvas, 123.0 x 123.0 cm Purchased, 1896 (advice of Bernard Hall) National Gallery of Victoria (33-2) In December 1896, Bernard Hall wrote to the chairman of the National Gallery committee: “With regard to the exhibition being held in town by Mr Arthur Streeton, I
Stanfield, Clarkson (1793-1867; English) The Morning After Trafalgar 1863 Oil on canvas, 64.6 x 106.4 cm Purchased, 1888 National Gallery of Victoria (p.312.11-1) Christopher Wood (1995) observes that the Victorians had a seemingly insatiable taste for images of episodes from the Napoleonic wars. This is one of several pre-Felton paintings that support this claim. One
Souza Pinto, José Júlio de (1856-1939; Portuguese) In the Fields 1892 Oil on canvas, 93.0 x 73.9 cm Purchased, 1893 (advice of John Longstaff) National Gallery of Victoria (p.399.6-1) This image of childhood was one of several selected from the Paris Salon of 1893 by Longstaff. Souza Pinto lived and worked for most of his
Sonntag, William (1822-1900; American) Scene on the Hudson (c.1864) Oil on canvas, 91.7 x 142.9 cm Gift of John R.Ricards, 1867 National Gallery of Victoria (p.301.5-1) Cox quotes from a letter by Redmond Barry, describing this as “a very handsome picture,” and the donor as “an American gentleman Mr Ricardo” {sic}. Sonntag, a lesser-known member
Singleton, Henry (1766-1839; English) Edmund Kean Oil on panel, c.22.86 x 12.7 cm Presented by Henry Tolman Dwight, 1869 Unidentified, present location unknown The apparent loss or deaccession of this small portrait, listed in the Melbourne gallery’s 1894 catalogue (but not in 1905), seems particularly unfortunate, on several counts. While various portraits of the famous