Title
On the River Yarra, near Heidelberg, Victoria
(circa 1890)
Artist
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Details
- Place where the work was made
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Heidelberg
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Victoria
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Australia
- Date
- (circa 1890)
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 30.4 x 40.7 cm stretcher; 45.5 x 55.6 x 5.0 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed l.l. corner, brown oil "C CONDER". Not dated.
- Credit
- Jean Cameron Gordon Bequest Fund in memory of her mother Mary Gordon 2002
- Location
- Naala Nura, ground level, Grand Courts
- Accession number
- 298.2002
- Copyright
- Artist information
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Charles Conder
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
'On the River Yarra, near Heidelberg, Victoria' is a superb plein-air sketch made at the heart of the Heidelberg movement, just below Eaglemont where Conder was camped with his friends Roberts and Streeton during the golden summer of 1889-90. He painted it at the request of Walter Withers, who was for a period working with the group, and probably exhibited it at his studio in Melbourne shortly before his departure in April 1890 to Europe, from which he never returned. Twenty years later Withers sold it through his dealer to the governor of Victoria, writing a letter describing the circumstances of the painting, including how Streeton was at that time working on 'Still glides the stream and shall forever glide', later bought by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Its fresh, rapid execution (which even contains evidence of the artist's fingerprints, displaying haste to record the effect of the motif as quickly as possible) is a supreme example of the philosophy of plein-airism of the period, and the Corot-esque notion that submission by the artist to the monumental moments of nature had its most ideal expression through the oil sketch.
But the appeal of this work, above all perhaps, is that it is a painter's painting; a gift from one artist to another who recognised his language more intimately than the average eye. In this sense it has an alliance with Streeton's 'The road to Templestowe' 1889, which was purchased by Roberts, and Conder's 'Feeding the chickens' 1888, which Conder gave to Streeton. Both these paintings were eventually presented to the Art Gallery of South Australia. They are exactly the same size as 'On the River Yarra, near Heidelberg, Victoria', and this trio of works thus might well be regarded, to borrow from Serusier, 'talismans' of the collegiate spirit of Australian impressionism.
© Australian Art Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2002
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Places
Where the work was made
Heidelberg
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Exhibition history
Shown in 5 exhibitions
Heidelberg to Heide: Creating an Australian landscape 1850-1950, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 02 Jun 2001–12 Aug 2001
Charles Conder retrospective (2003-2004), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 14 Jun 2003–17 Aug 2003
Charles Conder retrospective (2003-2004), Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne, 05 Sep 2003–09 Nov 2003
Charles Conder retrospective (2003-2004), Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 21 Nov 2003–26 Jan 2004
Plein-air painting in Europe 1780-1850, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Sep 2004–31 Oct 2004
Australia's Impressionists, National Gallery, London, London, 07 Dec 2016–26 Mar 2017
Grand Courts collection rehang, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Nov 2021–2023
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Bibliography
Referenced in 12 publications
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Christie's London (Editor), Christie's London: Impressionist and Modern Paintings and Sculpture, London, 02 Apr 1990, front cover (colour illus.), 94 (colour illus.), 95. lot no. 140; The property of a gentleman; titled '"On the river Yarra", near Heidelberg, Victoria'; estimate £100,000-150,000
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Mary Eagle, The oil paintings of Charles Conder in the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1997, 50, 51 (illus.), 52.
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Ted Gott and Kelly Gellatly, Heidelberg to Heide: creating an Australian landscape 1850-1950, Bulleen, 2001, 34, 62. Private Collection, Courtesy of Lauraine Diggins Fine Art
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Ted Gott and Kelly Gellatly, Heidelberg to Heide: creating an Australian landscape 1850-1950, Bulleen, 2001, 62. Checklist of works.
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Terry Ingram., The Weekend Australian financial review, 'Mud in yer eyes" gallery toasts Yarra success', Sydney, 01 Feb 2003-02 Feb 2003, (colour illus.). Smart Art section of the Weekend Australian Financial Review.
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Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art: Annual collector's exhibition 2000, Melbourne, 2000, 12, 13-14 (colour illus.). cat.no. 14
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Barry Pearce, Charles Conder 1868-1909, 'Between worlds: Conder in Australia', pg. 12-31, Sydney, 2003, 12 (colour illus., detail), 13, 30, 66, 101 (colour illus.), 193. cat.no. 31
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Barry Pearce, The Weekend Australian, 'Forgotten Impressionist', R16., Sydney, 07 Jun 2003-08 Jun 2003, R16.
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Barry Pearce., Australian artist, 'Charles Conder: lost and found voice of the Heidelberg School', Chatswood, Jun 2003, (colour illus.).
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Barry Pearce, Look: 1953-2003 celebrating 50 years, 'The enigmatic Charles Conder: spotlight on a lesser known Heidelberg painter', pg. 8-11, Sydney, May 2003, 10 (colour illus.).
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Public Programmes Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'K' is for Conder: Charles Conder retrospective, Sydney, 2003, (illus.). not paginated
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Christopher Riopelle (Editor), Australia's impressionists, 'Catalogue', pg. 64-109, London, 2016, 81 (colour illus.), 114, 124, 126. cat.no. 18
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