Historical information

Clifton Banks is the name given to a bank on the Hopkins River Estuary, about one kilometre upstream from Proudfoots Boathouse. It is at the foot of the property, Clifton which dates from the 1850s. There are several works of art and photographs depicting Clifton Banks which date from the 19th and early 20th centuries. This oil painting is believed to be the work of Emma McGeorge, the wife of Canon Samuel McGeorge, the Vicar of Christ Church, Warrnambool form 1899 to 1905. It is surmised that Emma McGeorge was encouraged by the artist Mary Norman to take up painting as a pastime or to continue with her art interests. Emma McGeorge may have been a pupil of Samuel Pearce Fuller and Mary Norman. She was successful as an exhibitor and entrant in art exhibitions in Warrnambool in the early 1900s. She died in Warrnambool in 1933.

Significance

This is a highly significant art work as it has artistic merit and is one of the depictions of Clifton Banks on the Hopkins River and so has historical value. It is an example of the high standard of art work that was being produced, especially by women, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Warrnambool. It was bought at an auction sale in Camperdown by Les O’Callaghan in 1997.

Physical description

This is an oil painting, probably by Emma McGeorge, on art board of Clifton Banks on the Hopkins River. It has a gilt wooden frame with multi-tiered highly-ornamented outer frames in a gold colouring. The lower frame is discoloured (perhaps by smoke from a fire place) and there is a small piece of wood missing on the lower frame. All the gilding is slightly discoloured. The back has been sealed with pasted paper and there are old tacks and old wire for hanging the picture. There is a label on the back from W. Hickford, the Warrnambool picture framer and handwritten information on the artist and the artwork by Les O’Callaghan.

Inscriptions & markings

Front: ‘E.Mc.G.’
Back: ‘W. J. Hickford, Picture Dealer, Framer and Gilder, Liebig Street, Warrnambool, Mounting and Repairing, Old Frames Re-gilt, Oakley Printer’
‘603’