About the artist:

Henry Winkles (1801–1860) was an English architectural illustrator, engraver and printer, who, together with Karl Ludwig Frommel founded the first studio for steel engraving in Germany. In 1836, with Benjamin Winkles, he produced and helped to engrave three volumes of "Winkles's architectural and picturesque illustrations of the cathedral churches of England and Wales". This featured illustrators such as Hablot Knight Browne (the famous "Phiz" of Charles Dickens fame) and architect Robert Garland (1808–1863), with text (and some engraving) by Thomas Moule. These books helped to inspire the 19th century Gothic revival in architecture in Britain. Henry Winkles, a printer, artist and engraver, came to the Ballarat goldfields in late 1852 to visit his son, who had recently moved into the area with his family. During Winkles’ stay in the region, he sketched the affected landscape of the region between Ballarat and Buninyong and documented the material existence of diggers in the early years of the gold rush. His fascination with the rough and contorted eucalypts of the region is also a recurrent theme. Having trained as a draughtsman in England and Germany before journeying to Australia, Winkles parallels Eugène von Guérard, who was also at Ballarat in 1853. The work of these two contemporaries provides an interesting historical counterbalance. If Von Guérard's interpretations of Ballarat are stunning in their scope and their magnitude, Winkles’ sketches are equally so in their ability to capture the minute and the intimate. The thumbnails on the right side of this page show a selection of Winkles sketches from the collection of the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery - to access the full collection of sketches, click on the Sources tab. In 1854 Winkles returned to England and a successful career as an illustrator of books. He is best remembered for illustrating a popular series called The Cathedrals of England and Wales, which played an important role in the Gothic revival in Britain.