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Artist
Eugene von Guerard
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Born
1811
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Died
1901
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Title
Old Ballarat as it was in the summer of 1853–4
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Date of Production
1854
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Medium
oil on canvas mounted on board
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Dimensions
75.0 x 138.6 cm
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Credit Details
Gift of James Oddie on Eureka Day, 1885
Eugene von Guerard
Old Ballarat as it was in the summer of 1853–4
When the European trained painter Eugene von Guerard arrived in
Victoria in 1852 he proceeded to the Ballarat Goldfields where he
not only dug for gold but also made a number of sketches of
the place he was eventually to refer to as his 'dear old
Ballarat'. Commissioned by Gallery founder James Oddie to
produce a painting of Ballarat at the height of the goldrush, the
artist used a drawing that he had made during the final weeks of
his sojourn on the diggings as a basis for the present work.
In a letter dated 1884 sent to the Gallery's agent James Smith,
the artist describes the painting from the left hand side as
follows:-
"...next to the first isolated tree is a tent with a small cross
on top, this is the first Catholic church St Alypius…The large tent
in the flat represents Rows Circus, the many various larger and
smaller ones stores and tents for amusements, etc. On the main road
to Buninyong and above and between there [is] the gravel pit lead
sloping down the hill to the flat beyond this line on the hillside
is a large tent which I believe was the Protestant church."
The painting also shows the Yarrowee Creek before it was
diverted and a posse of armed police escorting diggers, found
without licences, to the Commissioners' camp. Von Guerard was
concerned about the 'monotony' of the foreground and asked that the
work be framed before James Oddie saw it. Despite this it has been
much praised for its accuracy and detail ever since it was
presented to the Gallery by James Oddie on Eureka Day 1885.