Terms and conditions of use
Across the Dandenongs
1889
Medium
oil on wood panel
Measurements
13.7 × 23.1 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1962
Gallery location
Gallery 6
Level 2, NGV Australia
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Heidelberg, Victoria
Inscription
incised in paint l.l.: Tom Roberts.
incised in paint l.r.: June 30 / 1889
Accession Number
1207-5
Department
Australian Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Subjects (general)
Landscapes
Subjects (specific)
Australia (nation) Dandenong Ranges (hills) fields (land) Melbourne (inhabited place) mountain ranges Victoria (state)
Movements
Australian Impressionism Heidelberg School
Frame
Reproduction, 2007
Frame
A supply of Californian redwood timber (Sequoia sempervirens) was found in 2006/7 in the form of a plank from the base of a wardrobe in a timber yard in Warnambool. This plank provided enough timber for four frame blanks. Two frames were made in preparation for the exhibition, Australian Impressionism, replacing two of the 1984/5 reproductions. These were for Charles Conder Sketch Portrait and Tom Roberts Across the Dandenongs.
Making these frames is quite a straight forward process. The window for the image (sight size) is marked out on the surface of the board, centred or off-set. A further set of points are located allowing the top edge of the bevel to be defined – these are characteristically 1½” from the sight edge. Holes are drilled and the centre cut out. A saw cut is made at the corners to locate the intersection of the sloping bevelled sides. The bevel is cut by hand with a sharp chisel being careful to retain around ¼” depth at the sight edge. The outer edge of the frame is relieved with a ¼” bevel.
The sight edge bevels of original frames are sometimes painted with ‘gold’ paint. Some original frames were stained dark, some stained black, some were elaborated with painted or applied detail, some were given bronze or copper painted finishes overall.
These flat plank, timber frames are sometimes thought to derive from Whistler models. The source of them is uncertain. Frames almost identical to these appear on the wall of Carlo Bugatti’s studio in a photograph thought to date from 1888-89. Stylistically they are likely to owe something to the frames used by Les XX in Belgium and the Vienna Secessionists. An interesting point of comparison are the frames used by Mortimer Menpes from 1887/88.
Frame Details
Framemaker
Reproduction - crafted by the NGV
Date
2007
Materials
Californian redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), bronze paint.
Dimensions
H 13 7/8” x W 20” x D 1”