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C1865
Scene on the American Creek, Wollongong, New South Wales.
Artist:
Very rare engraving after a drawing by Eugene von Guerard of Wollongong, signed at lower right (in reverse) printed in 1865. Wonderful lithograph recording the luxurious rain forest at American Creek, near Wollongong. The trees depicted in the lithograph include;Â cabbage … Read Full Description
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Details
Full Title:
Scene on the American Creek, Wollongong, New South Wales.
Date:
C1865
Artist:
Condition:
In good condition.
Technique:
Hand coloured engraving.
Image Size:
187mm
x 234mm
Paper Size:
205mm
x 263mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1865
Description:
Very rare engraving after a drawing by Eugene von Guerard of Wollongong, signed at lower right (in reverse) printed in 1865.
Wonderful lithograph recording the luxurious rain forest at American Creek, near Wollongong. The trees depicted in the lithograph include;Â cabbage trees (Cordyline), bangalow palms (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana) and flame trees (Brachychiton acerifolium). Â Woodcutters can be seen at work at lower left of the image.
Von Guerards, description of the scene;
This sylvan scene is situated at a distance of little more than ten miles from Wollongong, near the junction of a little stream upon which some prosaic devotee of the bottle has bestowed the dishonouring appellation of the Brandy and Water Creek, with the American Creek, and at the foot of a noble range of mountains. With the lofty bangalow palm, the cabbage palm, the gigantic wild fig-tree, the fire tree (otherwise known as the blaze tree) with its vividly scarlet blossoms, are intermingled the nettle tree, the rose-wood, the sassafras, the white-wood, the wild rose, numerous varieties of the fern tree, and parasites innumerable the whole being woven together into one dense and almost impenetrable mass of foliage. Unfortunately the progress of settlement is necessitating the destruction of some of these magnificent forests, which in many instances clothe a rich chocolate soil of especial value to the farmer. At the time this view was sketched, numerous fires had been kindled by the wood-cutters, and the stately giants were rapidly falling before the pitiless axe of the hardy pioneers of civilization.
From the original edition of the Illustrated Sydney News.
Eugene von Guerard (1811 - 1901)
Guerard was a born in Vienna and he exhibited an artistic talent from an early age. He toured Italy with his father studying the art of the old masters. In 1838 he studied landscape painting at the Dusseldorf Academy where he engrossed himself in the German Romantic Landscape tradition, exemplified by the art of Caspar David Friedrich. As a result, von Guerard’s paintings, sketches and lithographs of Australia are not simply topographical but rather aim to create awe-inspiring imagery in the pursuit of the sublime and picturesque. By the 1860’s von Guerard was recognised as the foremost landscape artist in the Australian colonies. His strong geometric compositions and forms were highly unique in comparison to his contemporaries in the context of Australian illustrations. In 1870 he was appointed the First Master of the School of Painting at the National Gallery of Victoria, where he influenced and trained artists for the next 11 years. Von Guerard unlike his contemporaries did not produce many lithographs, although Australian Landscapes, are considered to be some of the finest illustrations of Australian landscapes. These lithographs are represented in all major Australian institutional collections.
