Thomas Woolner,
Medallion portrait of Charles Joseph La Trobe. Plaster, 1853. State Library of Victoria.
Angus Trumble, Director of the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra will deliver the 2014 Joseph Burke Lecture. Thomas Woolner (1825-1892), sculptor and poet, was born on December 17 1825 at Hadleigh, Suffolk, England. In 1842 he gained admission as a student at the Royal Academy in London. Five years later, Woolner met D. G. Rossetti and became an original member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Woolner arrived Melbourne 23 October 1852. He was at the diggings in the Ovens Valley and in the Fryer’s Creek, Castlemaine and Sandhurst areas. Woolner found some gold but after six months sold his tools and returned to Melbourne. He began to model medallions but had to dig the local clay, grind his own gypsum and make his own tools. He then cast reliefs in bronze of well-known citizens, charging twenty-five guineas each, and their influence and the patronage of Lieutenant-Governor Charles LaTrobe brought him commissions. Continue reading
Melbourne Portrait Group 