Title
Mount Olympus, Lake St Clair, Tasmania, the source of the Derwent
1875
Artist
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Details
- Other Titles
- Mount Olympus, Lake St Clair, Tasmania
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus, Tasmania - Date
- 1875
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 69.0 x 107.0 cm; 90.5 x 128.7 x 6.0 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed and dated l.l., oil "W. C. Piguenit 1875".
- Credit
- Gift of fifty subscribers 1875
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 6141
- Copyright
- Artist information
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WC Piguenit
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
Son of a convict transported to Van Diemen's Land in 1830, WC Piguenit was schooled in Hobart and later worked in the Department of Lands survey office as a draughtsman. He received rudimentary instruction in painting, however he was largely self taught, making sketching and photography trips to remote and spectacular regions of Tasmania. Piguenit painted in the colonial Romantic tradition, describing nature in terms of its infinite mystery combined with a topographical essence of its features.
'Mount Olympus' is one of many works in which Piguenit painted Tasmania in terms of a sublime majesty evoked through a masterful orchestration of earth, water and sky and dwarfed human activity. It was the first oil painting acquired by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
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Exhibition history
Shown in 5 exhibitions
Travelling Art Exhibitions 1952. Australian landscape painting, Taree Council Chambers, Taree, 08 Jul 1952–22 Jul 1952
Travelling Art Exhibitions 1952. Australian landscape painting, Lithgow Public Library, Lithgow, 05 Aug 1952–19 Aug 1952
Travelling Art Exhibitions 1952. Australian landscape painting, Young Public Library, Young, 16 Sep 1952–30 Sep 1952
Travelling Art Exhibitions 1952. Australian landscape painting, Church of England Parish Hall, Grenfell, 13 Oct 1952–26 Oct 1952
A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Sep 1953–25 Oct 1953
Australian art in the 1870s, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Jun 1976–02 Aug 1976
Australian art in the 1870s, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne, 28 Oct 1976–21 Nov 1976
A century of Australian landscape painting: mood and moment, Peking Art Gallery, Beijing, Oct 1983–Dec 1983
A century of Australian landscape painting: mood and moment, Shanghai Art Gallery, Shanghai, Oct 1983–Dec 1983
W.C. Piguenit 1836-1914, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, 16 Dec 1992–14 Feb 1993
W.C. Piguenit 1836-1914, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 10 Mar 1993–25 Apr 1993
W.C. Piguenit 1836-1914, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 13 May 1993–04 Jul 1993
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Bibliography
Referenced in 38 publications
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Tim Bonyhady, Images in opposition: Australian landscape painting 1801–1890, 'The wilderness intact', pg. 81-86, Melbourne, 1985, 83, 84 (illus.), 177.
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Edmund Capon AM, OBE and Jan Meek (Editors), Portrait of a Gallery, 'Australian Art in the Old Courts', pg. 24-37, Sydney, 1984, 24.
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Arthur Greenwood and Harold W H Stephen, Catalogue descriptive and critical of the Art Gallery with Sydney art notes, Sydney, 1883, 20. titled 'Mount Olympus, Tasmania'
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Christa E. Johannes and Tony Brown, W.C. Piguenit 1836-1914: retrospective, Hobart, 1992, 17 (colour illus.), 18, 19, 99. cat.no. 1
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Shar Jones, Early painters of Australia, 1788-1880, Sydney, 1988, 179, 181 (colour illus.).
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John McDonald, Art of Australia. Vol 1: Exploration to Federation, 'The mania and force of the stream', pg. 149-224, Sydney, 2008, 217 (colour illus.), 218.
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Hal Missingham, A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Sydney, 1953. cat.no. 36
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National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1883, Sydney, 1883. cat.no. 94, titled 'Mount Olympus, Lake St Clair, Tasmania'
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National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1888, Sydney, 1888. cat.no. 98, Oil Paintings
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National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1891, Sydney, 1891. cat.no. 252, Australian Court
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National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1899, Sydney, 1899. cat.no. 286, Oil Paintings-Australian
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National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1893, Sydney, 1893. cat.no. 352, Australian Court, titled 'Mount Olympus'
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National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1886, Sydney, 1886. cat.no. 112, Oil Paintings-Loan Room
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Diedrith Newkomer., Illustrated Sydney news, 'Sydney Art Gallery', Sydney, 20 May 1887, page unknown.
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NSW Academy of Art, Fourth Annual Exhibition of Works of Colonial Art 1875, Sydney, 1875, 4. cat.no. 25; titled 'Mount Olympus, Lake St. Clair, Tasmania - the source of the Derwent'; painted by W.C. Piguenit; price 52.10.0.
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NSW Academy of Art, Fourth Annual Report of the New South Wales Academy of Art 1874-75, Sydney, 1875, not paginated. listed in Appendix under 'Oil Paintings', Society's Extra Silver Medal (to Artist) No. 25 - W.C. Piguenit, artist, Tasmania; also mentioned in text.
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Barry Pearce, Fifteen decades of Australian paintings, Sydney, 1981, (colour illus.). cat.no. 5
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Barry Pearce, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian', pg. 13-35, Sydney, 1988, 13 (colour illus.).
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Barry Pearce, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Introduction', pg. 10-16, Sydney, 2000, 12, 18, 35 (colour illus.), 301.
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Barry Pearce, A century of Australian landscape: mood and moment, Sydney, 1983, 14, 26 (colour illus.). cat.no. 9
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Barry Pearce, Charles Conder 1868-1909, 'Between worlds: Conder in Australia', pg. 12-31, Sydney, 2003, 17.
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Peter Quartermaine, Australian art and architecture: essays presented to Bernard Smith, 'Speaking to the eye: painting, photography and the Popular Illustrated Press in Australia 1850-1900', pg. 54-70, Melbourne, 1980, 68, 70.
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Ron Radford, Australia, 'Land and landscape: the colonial encounter 1800-80', pg. 90-145, London, 2013, 100 (colour illus.), 101. fig.no. 25
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Andrew Sayers, New Worlds From Old, 'The Shaping of Australian Landscape Painting', pg. 53-70, Parkes, 1997, 64 (illus.). fig.no. 36
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James Simpson (Editor), Mercury, Hobart, 17 Apr 1875, page unknown.
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Bernard Smith, Australian painting 1788-1970, 'The late Colonial artists', pg. 48-70, South Melbourne, 1971, 60, 62 (illus.), 558, 582. plate no. 44
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Bernard William Smith, A catalogue of Australian oil paintings in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1875-1952, Sydney, 1953, 162.
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William Splatt and Barbara Burton, 100 masterpieces of Australian painting, Adelaide, 1973, 32, 33 (colour illus.). plate no. 13
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Daniel Thomas AM, Australian art in the 1870s, 'Introduction', pg.4-6, Sydney, 1976, 24. cat.no. 96
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Daniel Thomas, Art Gallery of New South Wales Quarterly, 'The Art Gallery of New South Wales', pg. 10-15, Sydney, Jan 1960, 14.
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Daniel Thomas, Art and Australia, 'Australian collection', pg. 52-62, Sydney, Jul 1972, 52 (colour illus.), 53.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 12 Apr 1875, page unknown.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), Sydney mail and New South Wales advertiser, Sydney, 20 May 1875, page unknown.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 17 Apr 1875, page unknown.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 15 Apr 1875, page unknown.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), Illustrated Sydney News, Sydney, 06 Feb 1890, page unknown.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 03 Apr 1875, page unknown.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 29 Mar 1875, page unknown.
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