Eugène von Guérard

Eugène von Guérard was an Austrian-born painter who became one of colonial Australia's most important landscape artists. Born in Vienna in 1811, he trained in Europe before joining the gold rush to Australia in the 1850s. There he turned to painting, creating detailed, panoramic views of the Australian bush, mountains, and coast, as well as scenes from New Zealand.

He combined scientific accuracy with a Romantic sense of grandeur, faithfully recording plants, rocks, and light while conveying the awe of the wild new landscape. His paintings are valued both as art and as careful records of a young colony. Von Guérard is now regarded as a key figure in nineteenth century Australian art.