In an unpublished letter to the Melbourne Newspaper the Argus in 1870, von Guerard wrote the following, referring to himself:

...his careful painting which he executes with the greatest desire to imitate nature so well as in his power, not only in an elaborate copy of her details, but shall do his best to catch now and then a glimpse of the divine poetical feelings which the autor [sic] of the kind article is so much wanting in his works...

Letter held in James Smith papers, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.

Historical Context
Von Guerard's arrival in Geelong in 1852 coincided with a time of great optimism and prosperity in Victoria. The separation of Victoria from New South Wales on 1 July 1851 and the discovery of gold that same month ensured progressive development in the new colony. Victoria's population in 1852 had increased by 67,000 , with huge encampments known as Canvas Town springing up around the Yarra River. Melbourne became a transit town for thousands of migrants keen to seek new wealth on the gold fields of Ballarat, Castlemaine and Bendigo. Many made their fortunes while others languished in the harshness and increasing violence and poverty of the gold fields.

In April 1854 when von Guerard arrived in Melbourne the city was bustling. Grand public buildings like Parliament House, the Public Library, the University of Melbourne and surrounding parks and gardens reflected the civic pride of the population. Wealthy patrons keen to impress their refinement were attracted to the detail, scale and grandeur depicted in the works of von Guerard. Numerous commissions followed and the artist's popularity in the 1860s resulted in his appointment in 1870 as the first director of the Melbourne National Gallery and School of Art.

By the time von Guerard left Australia for England in 1881 Marvellous Melbourne was an imposing city with numerous theatres, music halls, a new state collection, imposing architecture, a telephone exchange, cable trams, gas lighting, The Age newspaper, rail connections, and the Melbourne Cup.

Background
As a youth, von Guerard travelled to Italy with his father, who was a painter of miniatures. In Rome and Naples the young von Guerard began his artistic training. From c. 1839 to 1844 he studied landscape painting at the Düsseldorf Academy, Germany.

On von Guerard's arrival in Victoria he immediately set off to Ballarat in search of gold, but after sixteen months he had little success. He then settled in Melbourne and by the 1860s was considered Victoria's foremost landscape artist. He remained in Australia for nearly thirty years and during this time undertook many remarkable sketching tours of most of south-eastern Australia as well as New Zealand.

In October 1862 von Guerard began a tour of the north-eastern district of Victoria and Mount Kosciusko with Professor Georg von Neumayer, who was conducting a magnetic survey for the Victorian colonial government. The painting Mount Kosciusko seen from the Victorian border (Mount Hope Ranges) 1866, completed in 1866, was inspired by this tour.

Influence
In Italy von Guerard became familiar with the landscape art of the 'idyllic' Claude Lorraine, the 'heroic' Nicolas Poussin and the 'wildly turbulent' Salvator Rosa. There he was influenced by a group of expatriate German painters known as the Nazarenes, who put emphasis on fine and precise draughtsmanship. At the Düsseldorf Academy he was inspired by the German romantic landscape tradition (exemplified by the art of Caspar David Friedrich), which attempted to link man and God through nature.

Technique and Materials
On his various tours von Guerard recorded the locations in pocket-sized sketch-books, and usually included observations concerning colour and light. Sometimes he drew larger and more detailed sketches on location.

Once back in his Melbourne studio he would enlarge the sketches into detailed drawings, from which the paintings, commissioned drawings or lithographs were later completed. Sketches, a lithograph and an engraving of the scene of Mount Kosciusko seen from the Victorian border (Mount Hope Ranges) 1866 can still be located. The painting was not commenced until August 1866, but was then finished in about eight weeks, a very short period for such a complex oil painting.

The Painting
Von Guerard's painting Mount Kosciusko seen from the Victorian Border (Mount Hope Ranges) 1866 has a heroic quality which is established by its sheer physical size and elevated panoramic viewpoint. The foreground of the work, with its dark, eerie, primeval bush, contrasts dramatically with Mount Kosciusko, which is suffused in afternoon light. The monumental eucalypts in the foreground are accurately recorded with delicate brush marks depicting leaves. The same eye for detail is used throughout the whole painting, even to the tiny tree trunks on the mountains in the middle distance.

The rugged wilderness of the foreground is dominated by the skeletal remains of a huge tree. This tree does not appear in any of the original sketches of the overall scene, hence its central placement in this well-organized studio painting may have been intended to emphasize the life cycle in nature, where trees grow, mature and die. Compositionally the tree brings our eye down to its base, where a group of travellers gather to camp for the night. Compared to their overwhelming setting, these men appear small and insignificant, reflecting von Guerard's romantic desire to suggest the 'divine' and 'poetical' in nature. It is interesting to note that in this work, unlike some of his other paintings, man is not in awe of nature but seems almost unaware of the dramatic scene surrounding him, as he goes about the routine of settling down for the night.

The choice of subject, Mount Kosciusko, Australia's highest mountain, must reflect von Guerard's own experience and excitement in travelling to this then remote part of Australia. The drama, beauty and wonder of his expedition can still be experienced by us today through this painting.