View of Geelong

1856 painting by Eugene von Guerard

Throughout this article, the $ symbol refers to the Australian dollar.

View of Geelong is an 1856 oil painting on canvas by Eugene von Guerard. The painting measures 154.5 x 89 cm and is owned by the Geelong Art Gallery in Victoria, Australia.^[1]

It was purchased from English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber for $3.8M. The purchase is the second highest ever for an Australian work of art, with the top being $5.3M paid by the National Gallery of Australia for a portrait of Captain James Cook by John Webber. [1]^{[dead link]}

Lloyd Webber had bought the painting in 1996 for A$1.98 million.^[2]

In 1996, the painting was loaned to the Geelong Art Gallery, where it proved popular.^[3]

In 2005, Lloyd Webber offered the painting for sale via auction house Christie's of London, giving the Geelong Gallery first right of refusal. On 7 July 2006 the Geelong Gallery purchased the painting for permanent display in the Geelong Gallery, after being offered $1.5 million from the Victorian state government and the remainder being sought via a community fundraising appeal.^[4]

References

^ View of Geelong at the Geelong Gallery
^ "Lloyd Webber sells Geelong masterpiece". The Age. 12 May 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
^ The future of a Geelong icon needs your support, Geelong Art Gallery Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ Watson, Bronwyn (30 July 2016). "Eugene von Guerard's View of Geelong a glimps [sic] of Victoria's promise". The Australian. Retrieved 12 January 2018.