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Militia encampment at Sunbury
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Caption | Militia encampment at Sunbury. After the Crimean War, authorisation was given in August 1854 for the Australian colonies to raise volunteer forces. Fear of invasion also led to the establishment of the forts at Queenscliff and Point Nepean to defend the nascent colony from possible attack. When the first review of volunteer forces was held in Werribee on 1 April 1861, Nicholas Chevalier was on hand to record the scene of this first encampment. The Library's Pictures Collection also holds a coloured lithograph produced from his drawing. Chevalier's recording of the Sunbury encampment was described in The Argus of 18 April 1864: Mr Chevalier has just completed a medium-sized oil painting of the recent Sunbury encampment. A prettier scene than is afforded by the view of Jackson's Creek winding in the foreground by the white tents, standing in the space between two park-like tracts of country, the volunteers themselves brigaded to the right, with the Bald-hill and Mount Macedon for a background, is but seldom met with, even on canvas. Nicholas Chevalier's early art training took place in Lausanne, followed by periods of study in Munich where he studied architecture and then in London, where he learnt lithography – something which would stand him in good stead in Victoria. Sent by his father to Victoria to find what had become of his younger brother Louis, Chevalier arrived in December 1854 aboard the Swallow. He located his brother on the Bendigo goldfields, and soon after moved to Melbourne where he gained employment in 1856 as the cartoonist for the newly-established Melbourne Punch. Chevalier travelled extensively throughout Victoria, often with his friend and fellow artist Eugène von Guérard (1812-1901). Both artists made a good living from fulfilling commissions to depict the properties of prominent Victorian landholders. A review of an 1864 exhibition, published in The Age on 2 March, discusses the artist's noted abilities in this field: Mr Chevalier displays his industry in a very remarkable manner – -no less than thirty-seven works – -[O] ther finished views are chiefly squatter's [sic] commissions, and afford some fine representations of the pastoral scenes of Australia. Author/Creator:"Chevalier, N (Nicholas), 1828-1902 artist." Date: 1864. ID: IE527986. We ask you to respect State Library Victoria’s policies with regard to copying and re-using works with indigenous content. |
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Creator | see caption |
Artwork medium | painting: oil on canvas; 432 x 890 cm, in frame 640 x 1092 x 75 cm |
Credit | State Library Victoria (Australia) |
Terms of use | No known copyright restrictions |
Search stock images by keyword | Militia encampment Sunbury |
Stock image ref | Size | Views |
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YLV1000261 | 7,000 x 3,412 pixels | 277 |
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