summer effects as if he loved the country." When the painting appeared at the Victorian Artists Society's 1889 winter show, leading critic James Smith, while opposed to what he called "the impressionist fad", said Golden Summer "is the best example of this class of work in the exhibition." In April 1890, Arthur and Emma Minnie Boyd of the Boyd artistic dynasty took Golden Summer, Eaglemont to London, where, the following year as Golden Summer, Australia, it hung on the line at the Royal Academy, and in so doing became the first painting by an Australian-born artist to be exhibited there. In 1892, it appeared at the Paris Salon, initially receiving an honorable mention, and then a gold medal during a second appearance. One critic noted the popularity of Golden Summer with "the crowds that throng the Salon", saying that it was "simply impossible" to pass by the painting "as it is utterly different from any other picture in the vast collection". Likewise, Australian artist John Longstaff, then based in Paris, said the painting "created quite a sensation and stood out in oneness and quality all through everything else on the walls." In 1898, Golden Summer appeared at the Exhibition of Australian Art in London, where an English critic opined that it was "produced by a painter who sees with his own eyes", and that "its composition of light and shade ... [is] perhaps its strongest quality." Provenance Soon after completing Golden Summer, Streeton offered it to Melbourne's National Gallery of Victoria for 100 guineas, but received no reply from the museum's trustees. Streeton sent them a second letter, writing sarcastically, "I should be obliged if you would convey to the Trustees my hearty thanks for the interest they have taken in the matter". Scottish shipbuilder Charles Mitchell purchased Golden Summer, Eaglemont on the opening day of the 1892 Paris Salon. It remained part of Mitchell's estate until Streeton re-acquired the painting from the shipbuilder's widow in 1919. Ahead of its public auction in Australia in 1924, Lionel Lindsay extolled the work in the hope that it would enter a public gallery: A private collector acquired it for 1,000 guineas, then a record for a painting by an Australian artist. Streeton used the money to commission an architect to design and build 'Longacres', a new house and studio in Olinda, outside Melbourne. Golden Summer broke the same sales record in 1995