Guérard, Eugène von (1811-1901; Austrian/Australian)
Mount Kosciusko, seen from the Victorian border (Mount Hope Ranges) 1866
Oil on canvas, 108.2 x 153.3 cm
Purchased, 1870
National Gallery of Victoria (p.302.13-1)
Like the artist’s well-known view from the summit of Mt Kosciuszko (NGA, Canberra, 1863), the present canvas was based on sketches he made during an arduous scientific expedition led by German scientist Georg von Neumayer in 1862.
The mountain was named in 1840 by Polish explorer Pawel Strzelecki, in honour of the Polish hero, General Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746-1817).
NB the Anglicized spelling Kosciusko was employed until 1997, when the Polish spelling Kosciuszko was officially introduced. The earlier name for this work, used in the pre-Felton records (and also inscribed by the artist on the NGA canvas), is retained by the NGV.
Refs.
AR 1870, p.95; NGV 1875, p.35; NGV 1894, p.79 (IV.McArthur Gallery, no.23); NGV 1905, p.89 (III.McArthur Gallery, no.26) [£157/10]
For further comments on the 1862 expedition and the Canberra painting, see e.g. Grishin, Australian Art (2013), pp.100-101; and McDonald Art of Australia vol.1 (2008), pp.200-201. For the NGA canvas, see also https://artsearch.nga.gov.au/detail.cfm?irn=48469
For the name of the mountain, and other historical and geographical details, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kosciuszko (with further references)