I went to the Rupert Bunny exhibition media preview at the NGV at Federation Square. It was what I expected. There was orange juice, tea, coffee and nibbles (mini hot-cross buns and full-size lamingtons). Followed by speeches by NGV Director Gerard Vaughan, Arts Minister Peter Batchelor and the assistant curator, Elena Taylor (as the curator, Deborah Edwards was delayed flying in from NSW).
There was about 50 something people in media pack – I only recognized a couple of people – no TV reporters and only a couple of photographers. There was a reporter with a cool looking microphone digital recorder combination but most weren’t even taking notes. Most of them, I assume, were going to crib from the NGV media kit. In the “media kit” there is a bookmark, an A4 handbill, notes from the exhibitions and a media release from the Minister for Arts.
After the speeches the gallery doors smoothly slide open. Elena Taylor, the assistant curator gave a quick tour of the exhibition followed by impromptu speeches from Peter Batchelor and Gerard Vaughan. Although the exhibition is subtitled “artist in Paris” all of the speakers were keen to emphasize the local connection with Rupert Bunny. Bunny was born in Melbourne, received his early training in painting at the NGV school and returned to Melbourne at the end of his life. Peter Batchelor remembered paintings by Bunny that hung for a time in the Victorian Premier’s office. Batchelor demonstrated that he can think about the arts, noting the influence of the Ballet Russes on Australian culture, and didn’t mention party politics.
The speeches exhorted the media to “get out the message” to promote the exhibition. But I am not going to proscribe this exhibition to anyone, there is no need to see this exhibition; it will not change your life, your view of the world, or make you a better person or artist. Rupert Bunny was a dedicated follower of art fashions, making him a popular but not a significant artist. He started painting in a symbolist style, and following the example of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, he painted some British Christian images before painting his wife and model, Jeanne Morel for the next decade. To prevent himself from falling asleep, like many of the women in his paintings, Bunny changes his style in 1912 to suit the modern fashion. Post-WWII he changed style again and turned to painting landscapes.
If you like Rupert Bunny’s paintings you will like this exhibition; it is the first major retrospective since the artist’s death. Some of the paintings have been recently cleaned by the conservation staff at the NGV and were looking fresh and bright. I don’t like Bunny’s paintings, I hate his pallid pastel colors and his insipid themes, but I found the exhibition interesting perspective on art history and I was glad that I didn’t have to pay the admission fee. I met my neighbor, Marge on the train coming home from the media preview; she was on her way back from her u3a choir practice. Marge didn’t like Rupert Bunny’s paintings either.
Black Mark 
March 25th, 2010 at 6:42 AM
Well Mark, your honesty will keep people away. I doubt whether the public will flock to this Exhibition. The NGV has to bring out their oldies as their store rooms are over flowing with paintings and they need an airing from time to time. It would be good if the Arts Minister could perhaps read a little about the artists work and study ‘Bunny’ so he could sound sincere at least.
March 25th, 2010 at 11:38 AM
The Arts Minister appeared informed and enthusiastic about Rupert Bunny’s art. I did not intend to give the impression that he sounded insincere.
March 31st, 2010 at 9:12 PM
Too true. Before I considered seeing this exhibit I typed ‘NGV Rupert Bunny’ into Google news and the only exciting article I got was from a Big Pond website filler piece which described it as ‘distinguished’ and ‘brightly colored’ which I translated to bland and unimaginative . I hadn’t heard of the artist before and suffice to say I don’t think I’ll bother seeing the exhibit.
Very excited about Top Arts this year though.
April 22nd, 2010 at 12:58 PM
Well, I wont bother going now, thanks for your honesty in your review. I don’t think they have done enough to promote it anyway. Sounds like you had a nice day out anyway, rubbing shoulders with the media, despite your plain dislike of the art.
April 22nd, 2010 at 2:28 PM
It was a very pleasant media preview, very informative but not persuasive. I don’t know who is really into Rupert Bunny anyway aside from academic interest in Australian art history or is it European art history.
April 28th, 2010 at 1:03 PM
I loved the exhibition.
However I can still agree with your thought about “following the example of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, he painted some British Christian images…… To prevent himself from falling asleep, like many of the women in his paintings, Bunny changes his style in 1912 to suit the modern fashion.” He did indeed modernise, so I passed through the mythological room rather quickly and spent the rest of my time looking at his post-mythological work.
Since seeing the exhibition, a Bunny came up for sale at a Melbourne auction and I would have loved to have bought it. But the price was enormous.