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C1873
Mount Cook, New Zealand. Drawn by Mr John Gully.
Artist:
This rare engraving is from the original edition of The Australasian Sketcher, an illustrated newspaper which was published in Melbourne from 1873 to 1889. It was issued on a monthly basis and included a number of high quality engravings to … Read Full Description
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Details
Full Title:
Mount Cook, New Zealand. Drawn by Mr John Gully.
Date:
C1873
Artist:
Condition:
In good condition.
Technique:
Image Size:
235mm
x 205mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1873
Description:
This rare engraving is from the original edition of The Australasian Sketcher, an illustrated newspaper which was published in Melbourne from 1873 to 1889. It was issued on a monthly basis and included a number of high quality engravings to illustrate the news and article. The reason it was issued on a monthly basis was due to the time consuming process of engraving the illustrations which would take one engraver between one and two weeks to make each engraving. This is also coincided with the monthly shipping of mail to England. The engravings provided a unique glimpse into colonial life, often depicting situations or scenes that were less than flattering, in contrast to the majority of sanctioned views that provided a sanitized portrayal of life in Australia. Increasingly expensive to produce, the few illustrated newspapers that made use of original engravings for their illustrations, and that survived the economic collapse of the late 1880’s found themselves competing against the new technology of photographically produced half-tone and lino type processes. By the turn of the century most had disappeared. Many famous Australian colonial artists were employed such as Julian Ashton, Albert Cooke, Oswald Rose Campbell, Alfred James Daplyn, Samuel Calvert and Elizier Levi Montefiore. Many famous Australian colonial artists were employed such as Julian Ashton, Albert Cooke, Oswald Rose Campbell, Alfred James Daplyn, Samuel Calvert and Elizier Levi Montefiore. Due to their ephemeral nature few have survived.
John Gully (1819 - 1888)
Gully was a New Zealand painter born in Bath. He was largely self-taught. Gully emigrated to New Zealand with his wife and three children in 1852. Gully originally settled on a small block of land in Omata, Taranaki, working in various jobs including farming and clerical work. During this time he advertised as a painter of ‘views’ of properties to send back to England. He eventually ended up bankrupt and so took some art pupils. In 1860 driven out by the land wars of Taranaki Gully moved with his family to Nelson. He was appointed part-time art master at Nelson College, though because he was self-taught and not schooled in the classical style, he was not popular with the principal. In 1863 Gully got a full-time job, with the assistance of his friend, politician and amateur painter James Crowe Richmond, as a draughtsman at the Department of Lands and Survey. Gully and Richmond painted landscapes together at Milford Sound, Lake Manapouri, and other locations. In the same year he successfully applied to illustrate a paper that was to be presented to the Royal Geographical Society by the famous explorer and geologist Julius von Haast. Haast had reservations about Gully’s skill, but both the paper and Gully’s twelve illustrations of lakes, mountains and glaciers in the South Island were a great success and established Gully’s reputation. In 1871 a work of Gully’s, Mount Cook and the Southern Alps, West Coast of New Zealand, was included in the British Royal Academy’s summer exhibition. Gully saw acceptance by this group as the high point of his career. This was a considerable achievement for a self-taught artist from the colonies. Gully had thought that success in England would confirm his ability and was particularly anxious to sell his work on the English market. ‘I shall no doubt find out whether I can paint or not, for [England’s] the place to take it out of a fellow if he has any conceit’. In 1878 Gully retired from his job as a draughtsman and turned to painting full-time. He continued to paint and exhibit, his last big exhibition being the Wellington Industrial Exhibition in 1885.
