The artist as traveller

Ruth Pullin

"This remarkable exhibition tells the story of the art of Austrian-born artist Eugene von Guérard, the preeminent landscape painter of colonial Australia. It focuses on his life of travel and adventure, through the sketchbooks that he treasured, books that offer a glimpse into the heart and mind of one of our greatest and most enduringly relevant artists.Von Guérard travelled extensively throughout south-eastern Australia, methodically recording the landscape, trekking into some of 'the wildest and least-known portions of Australian territory', his pencil and pocket-sized sketchbooks always close at hand. Back in the studio, he transformed his sketches into meticulously executed paintings which are remarkable for their detail.During his twenty-eight years in Australia, he filled twenty-two sketchbooks with drawings that capture his sense of wonder at the diversity and beauty of the...