Hamilton Gallery

COLLECTION

EUROPEAN ART

Paul Sandby, 'Dromana - The Seat of Lord Grandison, On the River Blackwater, Country Waterford, Ireland', 1801, gouche, wash.

Most of the Hamilton Gallery’s collection of  pre-nineteenth century European art, with the notable exception of  its Paul Sandby and print collection, comes from the extraordinarily rich Herbert and May Shaw bequest.

The Shaw gift to the gallery consists of  more than 781 items, with a strong focus on the decorative arts, including Derby and Meissen porcelain, glassware, silver, miniatures, snuffboxes, and objets d’art such as small figurines and plaques.

Hamilton Gallery is also fortunate to possess several of Paul Sandby’s (1731–1809) ambitious large-scale exhibition watercolours, including one from his series of images of Windsor and its environs. In 1972, the State Government of Victoria purchased for the Gallery a large collection of works by Paul Sandby (1731-1809). Sandby was a foundation member of the Royal Academy and the earliest English artist of note to exploit the media of watercolour and gouache. He was also a fine etcher, a great innovator – the art of aquatint printing was developed in England largely as a result of his early enthusiasm for this technique. Hamilton’s large collection of Sandby’s charming 18th century English landscapes is unrivalled in Australia.

COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS

Francis Bacon

Figure and washbasin
aquatint

Edward Calvert

The Bacchante
12.4 x 5cm wood engraving

Annibale Carracci

Montalto Madonna
33 x 29.2cm Framed: 49.4 x 44.6cm oil on canvas

John King

Portrait of John Johns
70.5 x 55.5cm Framed: 85.2 x 70.4cm oil on canvas

Bernardino Licinio

The Adoration of the Shepherds
46 x 81.8cm oil on panel

Adrien Manglard

Port Scene
21.2 x 26.7cm crayon and wash on paper

Robert Henry Alison Ross

Portrait of Lilly Ritchie
76.5 x 63.8cm Framed: 99.3 x 87.5cm oil on canvas

Paul Sandby

A scene in Windsor Forest
80.6 x 107.2cm Framed: 104 x 131cm gouache and wash on paper on canvas

Pietro Tacca

The Fountains of the Marine Monsters (replica)
75 x 66 x 52cm bronze and marble

Albert Wolff

Lion fighter
14.8 x 9.2 x 5.5cm ivory
Header Image: PAUL SANDBY, Dromana – The Seat of Lord Grandison, On The River Blackwater, Country Waterford, Ireland, 1801, gouache, wash. Purchased with the assistance of a special grant from the Government of Victoria 1971.