William Wilkinson Wardell: His Life and Work 1823–1899

About the exhibition
The first exhibition to survey the life and work of prominent Victorian architect William Wilkinson Wardell coincided with the centenary of laying the foundation stone of Wardell’s renowned Gothic Bank building on the corner of Queen and Collins Streets in Melbourne. Drawing on curator Ursula de Jong’s postgraduate thesis on Wardell, the exhibition brought together original drawings, photographs, and archival material documenting the architect’s active years in the United Kingdom, Sydney, Melbourne and regional Victoria. Wardell first founded his practice in London in 1844 and then in Melbourne in 1858 , and his Gothic Revivalist contributions to the cityscapes of Melbourne and Sydney were prolific and profound.

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^{Image: William Wilkinson Wardell (architect) and A.C. Cooke (draughtsman), Exterior of St. Patrick's Cathedral of Melbourne 1878, ink and watercolour wash, 66.2 x 75 cm}