Collection Online
Sydney Heads
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
48.5 × 76.4 cm
Place/s of Execution
Melbourne, Victoria
Inscription
inscribed in red paint l.l.: E.v. Guérard (underlined) / 1860
Accession Number
A3-1986
Department
Australian Painting
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Mr Kerry Packer, Founder Benefactor, 1986
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Gallery location
Not on display
Subjects (general)
Landscapes
Subjects (specific)
bays (bodies of water) clouds equestrians harbours New South Wales (state) Sydney (inhabited place) Sydney Harbour waterfronts
Frame
Second frame, by J. & W. Vokins, London, c.1865, surface not original

Frame

Though Vokins are recorded as supplying frames to the gallery in the 1870s, this picture entered the collection in 1986.  The painting was in England for a large part of the time between 1860 and 1986 and it is unlikely the frame was made for the work while in Australia but rather reflects a change in taste for the presentation of the work in the English setting.  The painting appears in a photograph on exhibition in Melbourne in the 1860s in a very simple, plain profile frame.  The style of the Vokins frame is very much in the manner of frames by Isaac Whitehead, who framed many of Von Guerard's paintings (see Spring in the valley of the Mitta Mitta with the Bogong Ranges, p.300.14-1).  However, the notion that this style of frame should always be associated with these works is challenged by the simple framing which appears to be the original presentation of the painting.

Framemaker
J. & W. Vokins
London
Materials

Machine rolled and moulded composition ornaments on a wooden chassis.

Condition

Resurfaced with metal leaves (false gold) and a painted patina reducing the crispness of the detail and losing the articulation of the surface finish.  The slip retains its original finish.

Dimensions
72.5 x 100.0 x 9.0 cm; sight 47.0 x 75.0 cm
More Information
National Portrait Gallery