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1880
Painting
oil on canvas
181.4 x 301.5cm stretcher; 261.0 x 377.0 x 29.0cm frame
Purchased 1882
735
Art Gallery of NSW, Ground Level, British & European 19th Century Art Galleries, Court 10C
Further information
The so-called Zulu War came at the moment of greatest British imperial presence in South Africa. Though understood differently today, in 1879 - the year of the event depicted in de Neuville's famous canvas - the violent exchange was seen in terms of Britain's rightful defence of its own colonial prestige. Rorke's Drift was a small outpost on the banks of the Buffalo River in Natal Province. A large Zulu force, having slaughtered around 900 troops and native levies at nearby Isandlhwana, set upon the eighty soldiers of the Warwickshire Regiment stationed at Rorke's Drift. The defenders managed to hold off their attackers, usually characterised as an undisciplined horde, in a bloody hand-to-hand battle of Boys' Own proportions. The subsequent awarding of eleven Victoria Crosses confirmed the heroic dimension of the skirmish, though it hardly explains the interest of a Parisian Salon painter in this quintessentially English subject. De Neuville based his pre-cinematic version of events on military reports and survivors' accounts.
AGNSW Handbook, 1999.
Provenance
Fine Art Society PLC (England, estab. 1876), London/England, Purchased by the AGNSW from the Fine Art Society 1882. 'The Defence of Rorke's Drift 1879' was commissioned by the Fine Art Society.
Bibliography
Book; War in the nineteenth century 1800-1914; Jeremy Black; 2009, cover (colour illus.)
Periodical; National Library of Australia news; Joanna Karmel (Australia); Dec 2008, 12, 'Eliezer Montefiore from Barbados to Sydney' by Roslyn Russell, pg. 11-14.
Book; The transformation of peace; Oliver Richmond, Palgrave Macmillan; 2005, cover (colour illus.)
Periodical; Look; Jane Hampson; Mar 2001, 26 (colour illus.), "Rorke's Drifters: a battle for the empire lures visitors to the Gallery" by Brian Turner, illustration is a detail
General/Book; Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook; Bruce James (Australia), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940); 1999, 43 (colour illus.), 'Western Collection: Paintings and Sculpture' by Bruce James, pg. 17-77.
Scholarly/Book; The Dust Rose Like Smoke: The Subjugation of the Zulu and the Sioux; James Gump; 1996, cover (illus.)
Exhibition catalogue; Tom Roberts; Ron Radford (Australia, b.1949), Humphrey McQueen, Mary Eagle (Australia, b.1944), Virginia Spate (Australia), Daniel Thomas, Jane Hylton (b.1950), Barry Pearce (Australia), Leigh Astbury (b.1950), Helen Topliss (Australia), Roger Butler (Australia, b.1948), Jane Hylton (b.1950); 1996, 24
Book; British Artists and War: The Face of Battle in Painting and Prints, 1700-1914; Peter Harrington; 1993, 189 (illus.)
General/Book; Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook; Annabel Davie; 1988, 41, 'European' by Renée Free, pg. 36-56.
Periodical; Art and Australia (Vol. 22, No. 1); Elwyn Lynn (Australia, b.1917, d.1997); Spring 1984, 49, 51 (illus.), 56, 'Victorian favourites: a conversation - Elwyn Lynn and Lloyd Rees', pg. 49-56.
Exhibition catalogue; Salon and Academie: the charm of tradition; Anna Waldmann (Australia); 1984, (illus.), no catalogue numbers
Book; Portrait of a Gallery; Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940), Jan Meek (Australia); 1984, 19, 'European art in the old courts', pg. 14-23.
Brochure; History and Legend in some selected paintings at the Art Gallery of New South Wales; Patricia Crawford (Australia); 1980, 13 (illus.)
Book; Alphonse de Neuville: L'épopée de la défaite; Phillipe Chabert; 1979, plate no. 31
Book; BA Hons Thesis University of Sydney; Annette van den Bosch; 1979
Book; The Defence of Rorke's Drift, January 22nd 1879, by an Eye eitness; Reverend George Smith; 1915
Exhibition catalogue; Catalogue of the loan collections of oil paintings: exhibited at the Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide national galleries; National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street] (Australia, estab. 1869, closed 1968), National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery of South Australia (Australia, estab. 1881); 1894, cat.no. 2
Newspaper; The Saturday Review; Author Unknown; 27 Mar 1880, 411
Periodical; The Art Journal; Editor Unknown; 1880, 170, 125
Book; The last Zulu King; C.T. Binns
Book; Washing the spears; Donald Morris, cover (illus.)
Exhibition venue
Title: Salon and Academie: the charm of tradition
Venue: Art Gallery of New South Wales
Opening: 15 Nov 1984
Closing: May 1985
Title: Centenary of Rorke's Drift
Venue: Art Gallery of New South Wales
Opening: 1980
Closing: 1980
Curator: Bosch, Annette van den
Title: Loan collections of oil paintings
Venue: Art Gallery of South Australia
Opening: 1894
Closing: 1894
Venue: National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street]
Opening: Sep 1894
Closing: Sep 1894
Venue: Art Gallery of New South Wales
Opening: 1894
Closing: 1894
Title: Unknown, Fine Arts Society
Venue: Fine Art Society PLC
Opening: Mar 1880
Closing: Mar 1880
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