Reviews on Inside Out Upside Down Gallery Site
Rupert Bunny, Artist in Paris
Before I start I have to confess that Rupert Bunny has always appeared to me to be the most trivial of the well regarded Australian artists of the end of the 19th century. While I continue to find his work holds less for me than a few other artists of the time, I now have considerably more respect for him and his artistic intentions.
Deborah Edwards and her team have done a fine job in presenting Bunny and his work. The order is largely chronological, showing from early experimentation then mature work and on into oriental high keyed colour, before returning to his favoured representational method.
Bunny undoubtedly produced a large number of beautiful paintings and spanned a change from representation to near abstraction. His representational work moved towards Impressionism, then back to Naturalism and then to the vibrant chromatic effects of Orientalism before becoming more Naturalist again toward the end of his career.
His work is clearly influenced by the art circle in which he moved, but he maintained through most of these changes a characteristic use of colour and form that marked his work as his own. Few artists appear to have progressed under such influences and maintained a recognisable self. The Fauves for instance are in many instances unable to be recognised by individual artists styles.
The use of Bunny's wife as a model clearly has an impact on the sensitivity of his paintings. Each image of her contains an idealised perfection that can only be achieved by artifice or complete devotion, in Bunny's case it would appear to be the latter.
Many of the paintings appear as failures compositionally, but each has its element of success. It is as though Bunny's emotional connection to the subject has become part of the composition. He has painted largely for himself, to express something private, to preserve his moment. Yet the paintings do not descend into self indulgence. This is a quality that I have under appreciated in his work.
The final gallery presents a return from Oriental colouring to a more subdued palette. Showing a return to his true desire to paint in his manner rather than an adopted manner.
At $15 per entry this is not a cheep exhibition to attend. Having to travel a round trip of 500 kilometers it was a touch costly when adding accommodation and fuel, plus time. In this instance I would say it was worth the cost. I admit to balking at purchasing the catalogue at $50, but have now purchased it after my second visit. I strongly recommend this exhibition and the catalogue to anyone that has the time to go before next 21 February 2010 or is willing to follow it to Melbourne or Adelaide.
author: Neil Miley