The Heidelberg School1885-1910

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 SchoolColonial 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, 1862oil 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, 1886oil 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 1887oil on canvas, 51.3cm x 76.5cm

Tom Roberts, Shearing the Rams, 1888–90oil on canvas on composition board, 122.4 x 183.3 cm

Tom Roberts, Break Away!, 1891Oil 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, 1889oil on canvas, 114.5 x 152.8 cm

Frederick McCubbin, The Pioneer, 1904oil 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, 1890oil on canvas, 53.4cm x 43.1cm

Arthur Streeton, Fire’s On, 1891oil 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, 1890oil on canvas 66.0 x 105.5 cm

Jane Sutherland, The Mushroom Gatherers, c. 1895oil on canvas, 41.3 x 99.0 cm

Clara Southern (1860-1940)

Clara Southern, The Cabbage Patch, c.1899oil on canvas 47.5 x 31 cm

Clara Southern, Old Bridge – WarrandyteOil on canvas, 38cm x 32cm

Clara Southern, Bush Camp, c. 1914oil 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