Melbourne Town Hall and Swanston Street
Jacques Carabain, 1834-18921889
State Library Victoria
Melbourne, Australia
Carabain's painting conveys the grandeur and confidence of Melbourne in the 1880s. The Town Hall towers over pedestrians and a hansom cab in the foreground, partially obscuring the grand Victoria Buildings behind.
In 1867 the architects Reed & Barnes won the competition to design a new town hall, which was subsequently built and opened on 9 August 1870. When the portico was added 18 years later, a contemporary report in 'The Australasian Sketcher' stated that it 'will be of great benefit to the large audiences which so frequently assemble in this building for concerts, balls, dinners, etc'.
The smaller structure to the left of the Town Hall is the Police Court, which was replaced by the present-day administration building in 1908–10.
- Title: Melbourne Town Hall and Swanston Street
- Creator: Jacques Carabain, 1834-1892
- Date: 1889
- Location: Swanston Street, Melbourne
- Rights: This work is out of copyright. No copyright restrictions apply.
- lithograph: Painting
- View more information about this image in the State Library Victoria catalogue: http://search.slv.vic.gov.au/MAIN:SLV_VOYAGER1763902
- View a full-size version of this image: http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/143663
- Physical dimensions: 93.0 x 122.0 cm.
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- A.E. Ferris: Jacques Carabain trained at the Amsterdam School of Fine Art. At the age of 46 he settled in Brussels, becoming a Belgian citizen. A well-known landscape and topographical painter, he travelled and exhibited extensively. In 1888 Carabain travelled to Melbourne with his wife and son aboard the Lusitania. During his year-long stay in Australia he completed several large topographic paintings, including a pair of works depicting Collins Street, Melbourne, and King Street, Sydney.
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