19068
William Buelow Gould (1803-1853)
“Flowers Beside an Arched Window”
Oil on canvas
50 x 68.8 cm
Signed lower right
William Buelow Gould (1803 – 1853) is recognised as the first resident still life artist to arrive in the Australian colonies. Gould was transported to Van Diemen’s Land in 1827, where he applied his skills reputedly learnt as a porcelain painter in the Spode factory to create naïve yet exquisite still life arrangements of dead game, fruit and flowers, for which he is best known today. Alongside these works, he also painted maritime scenes, portraits, landscapes, botanical and zoological subjects. A drunkard and frequent reoffender, Gould served time at both Macquarie Harbour and Port Arthur, however received his certificate of freedom in 1835. He died in poverty in 1853.
