Melbourne Botanic Gardens
(also known as Scene in Botanical Gardens) c1932-33

RUPERT BUNNY (1864-1947)

Melbourne Botanic Gardens
(also known as Scene in Botanical Gardens) c1932-33

oil on canvas
44.0 x 59.5 cm; 61.0 x 76.0 cm (framed)
signed with artist's monogram lower left: RCWB
bears inscription on stretcher verso: MELBOURNE BOTANICAL/ GARDEN

Provenance:
J. D. Altmann, Melbourne
Sotheby's, Sydney, 22 October 1986, lot 59
The Collection of Mr & Mrs Rene Rivkin, Sydney
Sotheby's, The Collection of Mr & Mrs Rene Rivkin, Sydney, 3 June 2001, lot 6
Eva Breuer Art Dealer, Sydney (label attached verso, stock no.8198)
Private collection, Sydney
Estate of the above

Exhibited:
Exhibition of Paintings by Rupert C. W. Bunny, Athenaeum Art Gallery, Melbourne, 4-15 July 1933 (as Scene in Botanical Gardens)

Reference:
Thomas, D., The Life and Art of Rupert Bunny: A Catalogue Raisonné in Two Volumes, Thames & Hudson, Melbourne, 2017, vol.2, cat.O1075, p.100

Related Works:
Study of figure groups with colour notes for Melbourne Botanic Gardens, in Botanic Gardens Sketch Book VII, c1932-33, pencil on paper, 14.3 x 15.5 cm; referenced in Thomas, D., The Life and Art of Rupert Bunny: A Catalogue Raisonné in Two Volumes, Thames & Hudson, Melbourne, 2017, vol.2, cat.SB44.9, p.160

Estimate: $40000 - 60000

Result Hammer: $40000

One of the most internationally successful expatriate artists of his generation, Rupert Bunny was born in Melbourne and trained at the National Gallery School, before moving to Paris in the early 1890s, during the Belle Époque. By 1904, Bunny had achieved significant recognition, becoming the first Australian artist to receive an honourable mention from the Société des Artistes Français. He was also elected a Sociétaire of several French art institutions and gained the distinction of being the first Australian artist at the time to have his work acquired by the French State. His painting Après le Bain c1904 was purchased from the New Salon for the Musée de Luxembourg (now the Musée d’Orsay). By the twilight of his career, the French state had acquired 13 of his works, more than any other Australian or foreign artist.

October of 1932 saw Bunny return to Melbourne after some forty years of living abroad to find a home where he and his wife Jeanne-Heloise could settle. During this time, he exhibited his work with the Victorian Artists' Society and Sedon Galleries, focusing on landscapes that were easily accessible from his home in South Yarra, including the Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens, Albert Park, and Toorak. He favoured depicting the Gardens, which would have likely reminded him of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, where he had painted in the spring of 1909. The Botanic Gardens paintings from the spring and summer of 1932-1933 were inspired by several pencil sketches and oil studies that he described as ‘hasty notes set down in the studio after each visit to the scene’.(1)

Melbourne Botanic Gardens (also known as Scene in Botanical Gardens) c1932-33 is the result of several preparatory works Bunny completed in the Gardens. He would bring sketches back to his studio where he focused on painting larger, more detailed and refined versions.  In the present work, a moment of leisure is captured in the tranquil setting of the gardens. Five figures are engaged in various conversations while enjoying oranges, their peels being strewn on the ground beneath their feet. Bunny’s lively handling of paint gives the work a freshness, capturing the quintet as they savour the simple joys of a peaceful moment.

When Bunny’s works were exhibited at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Art Gallery in July 1933, the artist had already left for France to settle his affairs after the untimely death of his wife earlier that year. This likely explains why most works were initially given the generic title ‘Familiar Scenes in the Botanical Gardens’, although individual subjects were later identified.(2) The exhibition, which had strong sales, was reviewed by prominent Australian talents — Arthur Streeton and George Bell who were writing as art critics for The Argus and The Sun respectively. Streeton praised a collection of Bunny's works referring to 'the many canvases of cabinet size of scenes in the Botanic Gardens.’(3) Bell noted that 'In these pictures the artist shows what a wealth of material is so close at hand for the artist who has the ability to see it in terms of paint', adding 'The effect of this group is lyrical and charming.’(4)

Footnotes

1. Thomas, D., Rupert Bunny 1864-1947, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne, 1970, p.98
2. Ibid.
3. Streeton, A., ‘Mr Rupert Bunny. Old and New Paintings,’ The Argus, Melbourne, 4 July 1933, p.9
4. Bell, G., ‘Pictures Aesthetic and Vigorous: Rupert Bunny Show at Athenaeum,’ The Sun News-Pictorial, Melbourne, 4 July 1933, p.18

Clementine Retallack

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