Please visit or telephone the gallery
on +61 2 9327 8311 for the prices of these works.
Gallery hours are: Tuesday to Friday, 10-6
and Saturday, 11-5
Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny was born in St Kilda, Melbourne in 1864. His parents, an English father and German mother, migrated to Australia in 1852 to work on the Victorian gold fields.
Bunny's senior education included the initial study of engineering and architecture at the University of Melbourne in 1881. Surrounded by strong artistic influences, Bunny pursued further studies at the Melbourne National Gallery School, becoming one of the first students along with Fredrick McCubbin, E. Phillips Fox and Louis Abraham. A move to London in 1884 followed, with a continuation of study at the Calderon Art School. A year later Bunny travelled to Paris and took up art studies at the atelier of Jean-Paul Laurens which resulted in one of the greatest influences on his work.
An eclectic painter, Bunny's work varied from large-scale compositions to highly decorative, mythical scenes of the female form. Despite being a hugely accomplished painter of figures, he is predominantly recognised for the landscapes he painted of the south of France. These works vividly reflect the inspiration and influence of the masters of the Renaissance, Neo-Classists and the French Impressionists.
Bunny was one of the first Australian-born artists of his generation who went on to accomplish a significant international reputation. Such esteem was reaped as a result of the fine skills typified in his early works, particularly large paintings characterised by tranquility and simple beauty. In 1890 he received an honorable mention from the Old Salon, Paris for his painting, The Tritons and subsequently, a bronze medal in 1900.
Whilst he spent much of his career abroad, Bunny returned to Australia in 1933, settling and establishing a studio in South Yarra. He was appointed vice-president of the newly formed Contemporary Art Society of Victoria, becoming one of the key players in the Australian modern art movement. In 1946, the National Gallery of Victoria held a major retrospective of his work before his death in 1947.
Large exhibitions of his works include the Bicentennial show, The Great Australian Art Exhibition 1988-1989; a retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria which toured nationally in 1991 and more recently, the 2009 Art Gallery of NSW exhibition Rupert Bunny: artist in Paris.
"Rupert Bunny (1864 - 1947) is an exotic in the history of Australian art. A creator of grand, sumptuous paintings of Parisian life in the late 19th century, Bunny became one of the most successful artists of his generation."
"Bunny's romantic portrayals of beautiful women at leisure capture the charm and idyllic life of France's "beautiful era" Ð the seemingly endless summer of the belle Žpoque. His dream-like paintings of mythological scenes reveal an inspired and imaginative view of life and art."
"Rupert Bunny's international success over the five decades he spent in Paris saw his work exhibited throughout Europe and collected by the leading museums. He also led a fascinating and cosmopolitan life with Nellie Melba, Auguste Rodin, Claude Debussy and Sarah Bernhardt among his acquaintances." Ref:http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/current/bunny
Included in the touring exhibition, "Rupert Bunny - Artist in Paris" is the oil portrait illustrated right titled "Portrait of C F Keary" |
|
