Mr Clark's Station, Deep Creek, near Keilor

This work is one of a series of von Guérard homestead portraits. Glenara – as the homestead was called – was situated in the valley of Deep Creek, 27 kilometres north of Melbourne, and owned by Mr Clarke, a wealthy pastoralist from New South Wales. Mr Clarke and his family are depicted in the formal landscaped garden of the house. The painting shows an extensive view of the 27-room homestead. The house is set in the centre of a cultivated landscape surrounded by panoramic views of pastoral land with grazing sheep and cattle. Mount Macedon can be seen in the distance. The formal landscaped garden with its imported trees, vineyards and Sunny South roses represents a pocket of imported European civilisation in the untamed Australian wilderness. To begin the work, von Guérard completed sketches of the scene from the site of a bluestone tower over-looking the property. The tower, together with the house and garden, still exists today.