Staniland Colliery Explosion {1881} NGV [DR]

Staniland, Charles Joseph (1838-1916; English)
Colliery Explosion – the Rush to the Pit’s Mouth
Brush, wash and gouache, 19.0 x 25.0 cm
Purchased 1881
National Gallery of Victoria (p.168.13-1)

This drawing, exhibited in Australia in 1879-80, and purchased for Melbourne in 1881, was made for The Graphic.

The artist was known particularly for his sea paintings. The National Library of Australia owns a hand-coloured wood engraving after Staniland, dating from the 1880s, illustrating the ship-board tribulations of emigrants to Australia.

Refs. 

AR 1881, p.54; NGV 1894, p.52 (II.Stawell Gallery, no.54; size given as 19” x 25”); not listed in NGV 1905 [£22/10] 

For the artist (and other examples of his work), see Bénézit 13, p.215; http://www.invaluable.com/artist/staniland-charles-joseph-cvvc8gpvm2; and http://www.invaluable.co.uk/artist/staniland-charles-joseph-cvvc8gpvm2/sold-at-auction-prices/. For the NLA print mentioned, see http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/34740927?q&versionId=43040666