… Shoalhaven River, NSW, 1860

Recording European environmental impact

Developers’ Paradise

This painting was based on drawings von Guerard (1811–1901) made when he visited New South Wales in late 1859. The painting, which depicts the forest at Brandy and Water Creek, provides valuable, comparatively reliable documentary evidence of the state of the Illawarra vegetation just prior to its development, which can be seen being carved into the forest in its foreground.

Much of the power of von Guerard’s work comes from his technique. Von Guerard believed that the hand of God was literally manifest in the diversity of the natural world, so his meticulously detailed oil paintings of the Australian landscape were his hymns to God’s primacy. Von Guerard roamed widely across Europe and then Australia in search of subject matter, which he carefully documented in sketchbooks. The sketchbooks—the Library holds some thirty-eight—were the foundations for his oil paintings. They are visual travel diaries and a rich lode of incidental information about colonial life.

The painting was taken to London in 1862 for display in the London International Exhibition.
Display item … Shoalhaven River, NSW, 1860

 

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