Stoneleigh
[Stoneleigh, Beaufort near Ararat, Victoria], 1866 by Eugene von Guerard
I chose this painting because it is a natural scene. One of the first things I noticed is that there are not a lot of buildings or paths. The different shades and colours caught my eye. The colours in Stoneleigh are based on a simple but very effective palette of green, yellow, blue and a little bit of brown. The cloud formation and height of the horizon line make the land look very large and fertile. It was painted in Victoria in 1866, not long after the first Europeans reached the area. It was painted by Eugene von Guerard.
A shepherd is placed in the centre front of this painting, playing his pipe to the sheep. The land looks very well cared for, but it wasn’t the shepherds or the new landowners who had been caring for the land, it was actually the Aboriginal people who had looked after the land for thousands of years. This painting captures a frozen moment in time. None of the Aboriginal people are shown and the introduction of animals with hard hooves is about to start compacting the fragile soil and damaging the natural environment. This painting shows what the landscape had been like, but a time of dramatic change had begun. The painting shows the struggle of the first European settlers when they came to Australia as the weather patterns were unknown and their knowledge was farming was different. You can see the lake in the front is dry and maybe that is a sign of a drought starting up.
Close your eyes and imagine you’re in the painting: can you see the sheep, mountains and trees? The details are so realistic that it feels like you’re in the Australian countryside even though you know you’re not there.
Can you spot the fences and small buildings in this big landscape? Look closely and see if you can find people riding horses. This painting was part of a series of paintings of the western district properties.
The artist, Eugene von Guerard, was from Vienna in Austria. He came to Australia looking for gold during the gold rush. He sadly he didn’t find any, so he made his living travelling around Australia painting landscapes for people. The Lewis family paid Eugene von Guerard to paint this picture of their property, Stoneleigh, to show everyone that they were the owners. They were successful sheep breeders and graziers. Do you think that the property owner William Lewis would be pleased with this painting? I think he would have been because it makes the property look really stunning in its beauty.