Edward Fischer, Geelong Gold Cup, 1890
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Edward Fischer, Geelong Gold Cup, 1890 |
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Thomas Ham, Geelong in 1842, 1851 |
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Eugene von Guérard, The barter, 1854 |
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Alexander Webb, Yarra Street, Geelong, 1872 |
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The collection of colonial Geelong artists commenced from the first year of acquiring works for the permanent collection, with Lily de Crillon Berthon donating her small oil of Entrance to Airey's Inlet, painted two years earlier. J.W. Sayer, the Gallery's honorary secretary, presented his large painting of The Cowrie Pool, Torquay (c1900) in 1902 and in 1905 Miss Sasse donated a watercolour by her father, Edmund Sasse, Banquet to mark the turning of the first sod for the Geelong and Melbourne Railway in 1853 1853. These works now form the nucleus of a collection that has grown to include more pictures by local artists including Charles Mackin and Alexander Webb. Together with the work of visiting artists such as George Gilbert, Thomas Ham, Samuel Mossman, William Tibbits and Eugene von Guérard, a body of work now exists that traces the development of the town from primitive settlement to thriving community. Once peopled by Aboriginal tribes including the Wathaurong, the landscape becomes dotted with rudimentary structures that are soon replaced by substantial stone buildings on bustling streets. The struggles of the first white settlers with the unfamiliar environment and with the Aborigines fade into history as the increasing wealth brought about by the 1850s gold rush creates a solid, prosperous middle-class society where Aborigines play only a peripheral role. The general affluence of Geelong's community by the 1880s is reflected not only in the town's architecture but also by the commissioning of a prolific number of ornate silver and gold trophies and commemorative items from the workshops of gold and silversmiths such as Edward Fischer and John Hammerton. While the economic depression of the 1890s saw the decline of such commissions, the town's own economic stability was largely maintained so that, by 1896, it could realistically consider the establishment of an art gallery that would develop greater cultural awareness and achievement and so preserve its pictorial history. |