View of Geelong

View of Geelong is an 1856 oil painting on canvas by Eugene von Guerard. The painting measures 154.5 x 89 cm and is owned by the Geelong Art Gallery in Victoria, Australia.^[1]

View of Geelong, painted by Johann Joseph Eugen von Guerard in 1856.

Throughout this article, the $ symbol refers to the Australian dollar.

It was purchased from English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber for $3.8M. The purchase is the second highest ever for an Australian work of art, with the top being $5.3M paid by the National Gallery of Australia for a portrait of Captain James Cook by John Webber. ^{[dead link]}

Lloyd Webber had bought the painting in 1996 for A$1.98 million.^[2]

In 1996, the painting was loaned to the Geelong Art Gallery, where it proved popular.^[3]

In 2005, Lloyd Webber offered the painting for sale via auction house Christie's of London, giving the Geelong Gallery first right of refusal. On 7 July 2006 the Geelong Gallery purchased the painting for permanent display in the Geelong Gallery, after being offered $1.5 million from the Victorian state government and the remainder being sought via a community fundraising appeal.^[4]