Black Thursday, February 6th, 1851, 1864. Oil on canvas, State Library Victoria

Six months after William Strutt arrived in Victoria, the devastating fire of 6 February 1851 threatened to consume the colony. He created several works based on the catastrophe, including Black Thursday, February 6th, 1851 (1864), which was completed more than a decade after the event, following his return to England. Though praised in the English press, the artwork sat in Strutt’s studio for 20 years before it was shipped to Australia and exhibited around the country. The painting was eventually sold to an Adelaide buyer and was purchased by State Library Victoria in 1954.