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‘Town and Country’ arrives at Latrobe Regional Gallery

Currently on display at Latrobe Regional Gallery is a stunning exhibition of landscape paintings toured by Bendigo Art Gallery. ‘Town & Country’ focuses on the history of house portraits and garden imagery from the colonial period.

By Latrobe City Council - 13th September 2005 - Back to News

Gallery Director, Louise Tegart said that the commissioning of house portraits was a prevalent theme in Australian colonial art.

"Commissioned paintings of homesteads represented an important source of income for many colonial artists including Eugène von Guérard, Louis Buvelot, Conrad Martens, Nicholas Chevalier and Thomas Clark.

The pictorial legacy left by these and other artists portray a tradition of Australian artistic patronage and provide an insight into the lifestyle and aspirations of successful colonial landowners," Ms Tegart explained.

"Artists often used these commissions to emphasise the transformation of the natural landscape by European settlement. For the wealthy patrons eager to disassociate themselves from their convict past, portraits of their homesteads were a symbol of the development and prosperity of their lives in the colonies.

"These often sublime representations of the Australian landscape and grand city and country estates provide a wealth of visual history into the dynastic pastoralist families of the early nineteenth century. This style of imagery was the equivalent of the English tradition of country-house paintings. Artists often portrayed scenes of rural and city life in a distinct English manner including portraits of family members in their finery. Such representations of Australia reveal their importance in enticing immigrants from England and Europe to the young colony with notions of wealth and affluence," Ms Tegart explained.

"The exhibition examines the various ways artists chose to represent the subject. Many have portrayed the entire property and aspects of Antipodean country life, recording flora and fauna both native and introduced, outbuildings, labourers tending the land while family members play and enjoy the picturesque scenery. Other images present the homestead or the gardens as a focal point, displaying the advancements of architects, builders and garden designers in the colony. These images provide an important historical insight into building and gardening methods of the colonial period," Ms Tegart said.

Works from the collection of Bendigo Art Gallery are complemented by loans from regional, state, national and private collections. Works selected focus on homes and estates situated in Victoria (in particular the large properties of the Western District), New South Wales and Tasmania. The exhibition is curated by Tracy Cooper-Lavery, Senior Curator Bendigo Art Gallery. The exhibition continues until 23 October, entry to the exhibition is free.

On Tuesday 4 October Jane Clark, Deputy Chairman at Sotheby’s Australia will give a talk on the exhibition at the Gallery at 11am. The cost of attending is $5, $3 concession and free for Gallery Society members.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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