painter, decorator and commercial artist, son of the Burgomaster of the Town of Keil, was born in Schleswig-Holstein where he trained as a painter, art decorator, wood-grainer and signwriter. His family actively supported Prussia against Denmark in 1848-64, and the upheavals in his homeland convinced the young artist to emigrate. He left Hamburg on 30 September 1864 aboard the steamship Lord Cardogan , eventually reaching Australia via Liverpool and New York. He met his wife, Mary Talty from County Clare, en route. They settled in Victoria, for a time at Emerald Hill (now South Melbourne), before moving to Bendigo where Georg Carl Jess worked as a church painter and decorator. One of his few known oil paintings, the unusual, industrial, View of the Yarra at the Turning Circle 1886, sent for auction by a direct descendant to Sotheby’s 'Fine Australian and European Paintings’, Melbourne, 28-29 April 1998, lot 155 (with biography), went for $18,400 against an estimate of $5,000-8,000.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
