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• Auction House:
  Mossgreen
• Sale Name:
  The Denis Joachim Collection
• Sale Date:
  19 Jun 2016 ~ 2pm - Session 1: Lots 1 - 321
  20 Jun 2016 ~ 10am - Session 2: Lots 322 - 480
  20 Jun 2016 ~ 2pm - Session 3: Lot 481 - 688
  20 Jun 2016 ~ 6pm - Session 4: Lots 689 - 818
• Lot #:
  693
• Lot Description:
  Robert Russell
  (1808-1900)
  Melbourne from the Falls 1838, 1860
  watercolour
  23 x 30.5 cm
  inscribed upper left: Melbourne from the Falls; inscribed, dated and signed lower right: From sketch taken Oct 1838/ Copied Oct 31 1860/ Robert Russell
• Provenance:
  Georgiana McCrae, Melbourne; Fine Australian Paintings and Drawings, Sotheby’s, Melbourne, 6 April 1987, lot 91 (illustrated)
• Exhibited:
  Melbourne from the Falls, from a sketch Oct 1838 (possibly 1860), State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, acc. no. H3882
• Notes:
  Melbourne from the Falls 1838 is a jewel of a watercolour. It is related to one of the earliest records of the township which had just been named ‘Melbourne’, a township that within fifteen years was to experience the biggest economic and social booms in modern history. Because of its date, the present work remains an important document in the early history of the settlement and the geography of what is today known as Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD). The artist is Robert Russell, whose many talents included sketching, photography, etching, lithographic work, carving, architecture, and surveying.1 He was ostensibly Melbourne’s first surveyor and responsible for producing the earliest, and rather finely detailed, map of Melbourne, drawn up 1837 (lot 181). It would appear, however, that Russell was not highly esteemed, and he was soon replaced by Robert Hoddle, the one responsible for suggesting the CBD’s gird network. Russell was sent packing to Sydney but he was back in Melbourne in March of 1838 taking a position as clerk of works to the Port Philip District2. It was at this time that Russell made numerous sketches in Melbourne and its surrounding environs, including the ‘preparatory’ drawing for the present work. Russell’s artistic manner was not just acquired through his technical drawing as a surveyor. During his first sojourn in Sydney, he trained under Conrad Martens, and some of the master’s influence can be seen in the soft edged drawing and warm toned colouring of Russell’s better watercolours. Melbourne from the Falls 1838, is a view drawn from the south bank of the Yarra river and looks north-west across to, what is the present, Flinders Street. Painted almost exactly twenty-two years after the initial sketch, the present example is a larger, more detailed Picturesque rendition of Melbourne from the Falls 1838 (State Library of Victoria, Melbourne). The falls, seen on the right of the composition, were a natural basalt barrier which crossed the Yarra. Evidence of their existence can still be seen today near Queen’s Bridge. The falls not only provided a physical means of getting across the river, but they also functioned as a natural filter, separating the murky tidal water from the fresh.3 The present work was once owned by Georgina McCrae (1808–1890), a well-known linguist, musician, writer and competent portraitist painter who studied at the Royal Academy, London. She moved to Melbourne in 1841 where she evidently stopped painting professionally. The exact nature of her relationship with Robert Russell is not known but he is mentioned in passing in at least one of her published diaries.4 Russell’s life and art saw Australia go from Colony to Federation, and although he played a small part in surveying the city of Melbourne, he was, and will continue to be, remembered for his early and important views along the Yarra. Petrit Abazi 1 See Joan Kerr (ed.), The Dictionary of Australian Artists: painters, sketchers, photographers and engravers to 1870, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992; 2 Ibid. ; 3 Jeff Sparrow, ‘Melbourne from the Falls’, in Overland: progressive culture since 1954, [cited online, May 2016, https://overland.org.au/2012/07/melbourne-from-the-falls/]; 4 Hugh McCrae (ed.), Georgiana’s Journal: Melbourne a hundred years ago [Diary of Georgiana McCrae], Angus & Robertson, Sydney, p. 176
• Estimate:
  A$15,000 - 25,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.