Still life with rabbit
(c. 1840)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
61.4 × 50.7 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the Joe White Bequest, Governor, 1981
© Public Domain
Gallery location
Gallery 5
Level 2, NGV Australia
About this work
After being convicted of stealing a coat, a silk handkerchief and a pair of gloves, twenty-four-year-old William Buelow Gould was transported to what European settlers called Van Diemen’s Land, now known as lutruwita/Tasmania. Gould’s life of crime continued upon his arrival, and he received sentences for misdemeanours including theft, forgery and alcohol-related feuds, later being declared ‘a man of very bad character’. During incarceration at Macquarie Harbour, Gould was assigned to the settlement’s surgeon, William de Little, for whom Gould drew botanical and marine specimens. Gould received his certificate of freedom in 1835 and went on to work as a painter in Hobart. He is celebrated as one of the most important artists of the early colonial period.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Tasmania
Accession Number
A9-1981
Department
Australian Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Subjects (general)
Still Lifes
Subjects (specific)
brown colours deaths ducks (birds) game pieces (still lifes) pheasant rabbits