Portrait of Patricia Millward c1940

Rupert Bunny (1864-1947, Australian, French)

Portrait of Patricia Millward c1940

oil on canvas
44.5 x 38.0 cm

signed with monogram centre left: RCWB

bears inscription verso: STUDY OF PATRICIA HIDDINGH [sic] BY RUPERT BUNNY

Provenance:

Gift from the artist to Mr Walter Millward, Melbourne

Thence by descent, Ms Patricia Millward, New South Wales

Christopher Day Gallery, Sydney, 1985

Private collection

Leonard Joel, Melbourne, 16 April 1986, lot 1281 (as Study of Patricia Hiddingh)

Private collection

Queensland Fine Art Auctions, Gold Coast, 24 September 1989, lot 140 (as Study of Patricia Hiddingh)

Framed Gallery, Darwin

Private collection, New South Wales

Exhibited:

Australian Paintings 1824-1940, Christopher Day Gallery, Sydney, 1985, cat.55 (illus. exhibition catalogue)

Reference:

The Argus, Melbourne, 19 September 1944, p.6

Thomas, D., The Life and Art of Rupert Bunny: A Catalogue Raisonné, Thames & Hudson, Melbourne, 2017, vol.2, p.107, cat.O1160

Related Works:

Portrait of Elizabeth Millward c1940, oil on canvas, 46.0 x 38.0 cm, present whereabouts unknown; referenced in Thomas, D., The Life and Art of Rupert Bunny: A Catalogue Raisonné, Thames & Hudson, Melbourne, 2017, vol.2, p.107, cat.O1159

Judy Millward c1940, oil on canvas, 46.0 x 38.0 cm (approx.), present whereabouts unknown; referenced in Thomas, D., The Life and Art of Rupert Bunny: A Catalogue Raisonné, Thames & Hudson, Melbourne, 2017, vol.2, p.107, cat.O1161

Catalogue Note:

The three portraits of the Millward cousins, Elizabeth (Betty), Patricia, and Judith were painted over a period of some weeks in about 1940. The sisters Elizabeth and Patricia were the daughters of Charles George Millward, who leased Price’s Newsagency at 143 Toorak Road, South Yarra, where Bunny had his studio and living quarters above the shop. Being a heavy smoker, Bunny used to leave the cigarette butts on the windowsill. A smouldering butt was probably the cause of an upstairs fire, which resulted in some damage to and loss of paintings. Bunny painted the three portraits in gratitude for not being evicted.

- David Thomas

 

We gratefully acknowledge the kind assistance of David Thomas in cataloguing this work.

Estimate: $12000 - 18000