The Heidelberg School
1885-1910
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror The wide brown land for me!
Dorothea Mackellar (1908), 2nd verse of
six verse poem, My Country
Pre-Heidelberg School
Colonial artists
1821-1851
John Glover, The River Nile, Van Dieman's Land, from Mr.Glover's Farm 1837
oil on canvas, 76.4cm x 114.6cm
Eugène von Guérard, Mount Abrupt, near Dunkeld, Western District c. 1856–57
colour lithograph, 14.0 x 22.3 cm
Nicholas Chevalier, Buffalo Range from the west, 1862
oil on cardboard
The Heidelberg School became the accepted national style of
art because of several complex reasons including
the emergence of nationalism and federation
the forceful advocacy of the School’s work through the public media
(Arthur Streeton was the critic for the Melbourne newspaper, Argus, from
1929 to 1935) brought into prominence the names of the artists
the development of art institutions such as art schools, societies and
galleries enabled artists to see themselves as part of an Australian
tradition rather than an English or European one
Accessibility of Heidelberg by a good public transport system - first
settled in 1840 on the outskirts of Melbourne. In 1888 the Heidelberg
railway opened
By 1890s the population was greater in the capital cities and large
country towns than the bush and enjoyed a higher standard of living and
the pioneering past was rapidly disappearing.
There was a strong nationalistic spirit when Australia celebrated
its centenary in 1888
The wool industry was thriving; Australia was supplying more
than half the world's fine wool
Subsistence farming was spreading, with a middle class of
shopkeepers and traders in the cities
There was intense political activity and by 1890 all colonies in
Australia had responsible government. They had two Houses of
Parliament, Legislative Assembly (the Lower House), and the
Legislative Council (the Upper House)
Journalism flourished in the weeklies like the Bulletin,
Boomerang and the Worker, which reported the early battles of
the trade union movement
Unionism and self dependence contributed to the formation of a
Commonwealth and Federation in 1901.
Tom Roberts (1856-1931)
Tom Roberts, Quiet Stream, Heidelberg, c. 1885
oil on canvas 24.5 x 45.2 cm
Tom Roberts, The Artist’s Camp, 1886
oil on canvas, 45.7 x 60.8 cm
Tom Roberts, Bourke Street, Allegro Con Brio, c.1886
Oil on canvas, 35 x 45 cm
Tom Roberts, Slumbering sea, Mentone 1887
oil on canvas, 51.3cm x 76.5cm
Tom Roberts, Shearing the Rams, 1888–90
oil on canvas on composition board, 122.4 x 183.3 cm
Tom Roberts, Break Away!, 1891
Oil on canvas, 137.2 x 168.1 cm
Frederick McCubbin (1855-1917)
Frederick McCubbin, Lost, 1886
oil on canvas 114.3 x 72.4 cm
Frederick McCubbin, Lost, 1907
oil on canvas, 134.6cm x 199cm
Frederick McCubbin, On the Wallaby Track, 1896
oil on canvas, 122 x 223.5 cm
Frederick McCubbin, Down on his Luck, 1889
oil on canvas, 114.5 x 152.8 cm
Frederick McCubbin, The Pioneer, 1904
oil on canvas (triptych), 223.5 x 86 cm; 224.7 x 122.5 cm; 223.5 x 85.7 cm
Arthur Streeton (1867-1943)
Arthur Streeton, Near Heidelberg, 1890
oil on canvas, 53.4cm x 43.1cm
Arthur Streeton, Fire’s On, 1891
oil on canvas 183.8 x 122.5cm
Arthur Streeton, The purple noon's transparent might, 1896
Oil on canvas, 123cm x 123cm
Arthur Streeton, Silvan Dam, c. 1930-31
oil on canvas 76.0 x 63.5 cm
Charles Conder (1868-1909)
Charles Conder, A Holiday at Mentone, c. 1888
oil on canvas, 46.2 x 60.8cm
Charles Conder, Coogee Bay, 1888
oil on cardboard, 26.8cm x 40.7cm
Charles Condor, Impressionist’s Camp, 1889 (A Winter Sunday at Heidelberg
with Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton), 1889
oil on paper mounted on cardboard 13.9 x 24.0 cm
Charles Conder, The Yarra, Heidelberg: Boys Bathing, 1890
oil on canvas 50.6 x 91.0 cm
Charles Conder, Rickett's Point, 1890
oil on canvas, 30.9cm x 76.9cm
Jane Sutherland (1853-1928)
Jane Sutherland, Obstruction, 1887
oil on canvas 41 x 31 cm
Jane Sutherland, Girl in a Paddock, 1890
oil on canvas 66.0 x 105.5 cm
Jane Sutherland, The Mushroom Gatherers, c. 1895
oil on canvas, 41.3 x 99.0 cm
Clara Southern (1860-1940)
Clara Southern, The Cabbage Patch, c.1899
oil on canvas 47.5 x 31 cm
Clara Southern, Old Bridge – Warrandyte
Oil on canvas, 38cm x 32cm
Clara Southern, Bush Camp, c. 1914
oil on canvas, 29 x 49.5 cm
Clara Southern, An Old Bee Farm, c. 1900
oil on canvas, 69.1 x 112.4 cm
Walter Withers(1854-1914)
Walter Withers, Tranquil Winter, 1895
oil on canvas, 75.7 x 122.6 cm
Walter Withers, The Yarra Below Eaglemont, 1895
oil on canvas 50.8 x 68.5 cm
Walter Withers, Early Morning, Heidelberg, 1898
oil on canvas on composition board, 45.0 x 91.7 cm
Walter Withers, The Silent Gums, 1909
oil on canvas, 105.0 x 181.0 cm