View of Geelong
View of Geelong is an 1856 oil painting on canvas by Eugene von Guerard. The painting measures 154.5 x 89cm and is owned by the Geelong Art Gallery in Victoria, Australia.
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.
Lloyd Webber had bought the painting in 1996 for A$1.98 million.
In 1996, the painting was loaned to the Geelong Art Gallery, where it proved popular.
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 July 7, 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.
