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Terms and conditions of use
Tea Trees near Cape Schanck, Victoria
1865
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
61.1 × 91.8 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Ian Hicks AM and Dorothy Hicks, John Higgins, Bruce Parncutt and Robin Campbell, 2006
Gallery location
Gallery 5
Level 2, NGV Australia
About this work
A geometric framework underpins most of Eugene von Guérard’s works, but nowhere more dramatically than in Tea trees near Cape Schanck, Victoria, where the artist made effective use of the Golden Section and used the diagonal to divide the picture into zones of sunlight and shadow. There are subtexts, too, of growth and senescence, and of the indigenous and the exotic – a fox in the undergrowth eyes off a sea bird wheeling in from the left. The aerial perspective is exceptional, too, and the whole scene is diffused with glorious light. This is one of von Guérard’s most beautiful and fascinating pictures.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Melbourne, Victoria
Inscription
inscribed (diagonally) in red paint l.r.: Eug. v. Guérard / 1865
Accession Number
2006.346
Department
Australian Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Subjects (general)
Animals Landscapes Marines and Seascapes
Subjects (specific)
birds (animals) fox (animal) Mornington Peninsula (peninsula) rock (inorganic material) Schanck, Cape (cape) trees Victoria (state)