Terms and conditions of use
One of the falls on the Apsley
1873
- Medium
- watercolour, gouache and gum arabic
- Measurements
- (46.0 × 66.4 cm) (image) 46.3 × 67.3 cm (sheet)
- Inscription
- inscribed in brush and light brown watercolour l.c.r.: c. Martens 1873
- Accession Number
- p.166.131-1
- Department
- Australian Prints & Drawings
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1873
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest - Gallery location
- Not on display
- About this work
-
Explorer John Oxley first described the Apsley Falls in September 1818, writing in his journal that he was ‘lost in astonishment at the sight of this wonderful natural sublimity’ and that ‘it is impossible to form a correct idea of the wild magnificence of the scenery without the pencil of a Salvator [Rosa]. Such a painter would here find an ample field for the exercise of his genius’. By the time Conrad Martens visited in 1852, the Falls were a renowned sight, yet he exaggerated their height to enhance the awe-inspiring effect. This watercolour was especially commissioned for the National Gallery of Victoria’s collection in 1873.
