Eugène von Guérard—View of Geelong

In July 2006, Eugène von Guérard’s masterpiece, View of Geelong, was finally secured for Geelong Gallery’s permanent collection following a widely publicised and passionately supported public appeal for funds. With major grants from all levels of government, the philanthropic and corporate sectors and numerous private donors, the purchase of the painting through Christie’s—acting for the vendor, the English composer, Lord Lloyd-Webber—returned to Australia a work of art long acknowledged as an iconic image of Australia’s colonial era, and a supremely significant item of national and regional cultural heritage.