16 23 RUPERT BUNNY (1864-1947) St Veronica circa 1899 oil on canvas signed lower right: Rupert C W Bunny inscribed verso: St Veronica 86 x 111 cm PROVENANCE Paul Renard, New Drouot, Paris, 24 June 1988, as Le Voile de Véronique Private collection Thence by descent Private collection, Perth Fine <strong>Art</strong>, McKenzies Auctioneers, Perth, 19 November 2013, lot 40 Private collection, Melbourne EXHIBITED Royal Society of British <strong>Art</strong>ists, London, 1902, cat. 305, as St. Veronica Exhibition of Paintings by Rupert C. W. Bunny, Fine <strong>Art</strong> Society’s Gallery, Melbourne, 15-27 November 1922, cat. 8, as St. Veronica An Exhibition of Oil Paintings <strong>and</strong> Drawings by Rupert C. W. Bunny, Anthony Hordern & Sons Limited, Sydney, 2-31 May 1923, cat. 8, 150 gns LITERATURE Forum, Sydney, 23 May 1923 Rupert Bunny Papers, La Trobe Collection, State Library of Victoria, MS7970/35 David Thomas, Rupert Bunny 1864-1947, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne, 1970, p. 40, cat. O78 Terry Ingram, ‘As the Gavel Falls’, Financial Review, Sydney, 4 August 1988, p. 35 (illustrated) Sydney Morning Herald, 19 November 1988, p. 13 David Thomas, Important <strong>Australian</strong> <strong>Art</strong>, Bonhams, May 2012 David Thomas, The Life <strong>and</strong> <strong>Art</strong> of Rupert Bunny: A Catalogue Raisonné, Thames & Hudson, Melbourne, 2017, vol.1, p.98, vol. 2, cat. no. O115, p. 25 RELATED WORKS Composition Studies for St. Veronica, Dance of the Hours, Frieze The Hours, <strong>and</strong> Perseus, pen <strong>and</strong> ink on paper, The University of Melbourne <strong>Art</strong> Collection, 1948.0246 Leaf from a Sketchbook, c.1900, pen <strong>and</strong> ink on paper, one of the composition study is inscribed ‘St. Veronica’, National Gallery of Victoria Three Composition Studies for St. Veronica, conté on paper, in Sketchbook, c.1900, The University of Melbourne <strong>Art</strong> Collection, 1948.40: 17A Sketch for ‘St Veronica’, oil on card, formerly Mrs J. S. Reid, Melbourne, thence by descent $20,000–30,000 St Veronica st<strong>and</strong>s out as one of Rupert Bunny’s most significant religious paintings. Exhibited at the Royal Society of British <strong>Art</strong>ists in London in 1902, it was produced when the artist was receiving considerable recognition for his Christian imagery: in 1901, he was awarded the gold medal at the Victorian Gold Jubilee Exhibition for his painting of the Conversion of Valerian. 1902 also marked the year Bunny made a more permanent move from Paris to London. This period coincided with a subtle shift in Bunny’s style – one clearly identifiable in the present picture. He was shedding the lure of French Symbolism <strong>and</strong> British Aestheticism, which had influenced much of his solemn religious <strong>and</strong> classic mythological paintings, <strong>and</strong> was now trying on his reflections on the French Romantics <strong>and</strong> Venetian Renaissance masters for pictorial inspiration. Set against a dreamy yet turbulent l<strong>and</strong>scape, St Veronica has all the theatrical muscle of Eugène Delacroix’s La Liberté guidant le peuple, charged with Paulo Veronese’s rich colour schemes <strong>and</strong> decorative corral of smooth skin, wrinkled rags, heavy wood <strong>and</strong> hard metal. Despite these obvious academic quotations, the traditional subject matter <strong>and</strong> the inclusion of the main iconographical elements commonly represented in the episode, a closer look reveals that this picture is also a work that departs from convention. The story goes that Veronica witnessed Jesus carry the cross <strong>and</strong> offered him her veil as a towel. His face was then miraculously transferred onto the cloth. In other paintings of this scene, this mystical process <strong>and</strong> the resulting divine relic were made overt <strong>and</strong> explicit: Veronica (or some chubby cherubs) are usually shown holding up the veil with both h<strong>and</strong>s, often in the direction of Christ’s head – the process or product of transference was almost always literally in your face. Bunny, however, in an act of subtle realism, chooses to depict the moments immediately after Veronica’s gesture of charity: her veil is back on her head <strong>and</strong> it is all that st<strong>and</strong>s between her skull <strong>and</strong> the soldier’s imminent blow. By relegating the cloth to its original utilitarian function <strong>and</strong> marginalising its iconic significance, both symbolically <strong>and</strong> compositionally (the imprint is only half visible), Bunny adds a natural <strong>and</strong> realistic twist to the st<strong>and</strong>ard iconographical approach. As David Thomas has noted, the artist ‘had a creative approach which allowed his work to remain fresh <strong>and</strong> alive throughout his life’. This painting is an excellent example of how Rupert Bunny gracefully danced between traditional imagery <strong>and</strong> modern sensibilities. Petrit Abazi 1 Until recently, the painting was thought to have been produced circa 1902. See David Thomas, The Life <strong>and</strong> <strong>Art</strong> of Rupert Bunny: A Catalogue Raisonné, Thames & Hudson, Melbourne, 2017, vol.1, p.98, vol. 2, cat. no. O115, p. 25 2 The Hungarian-born writer Zsigmond Justh, had already by 1888 noted the influence of Bellini <strong>and</strong> Titian (among others) in the early art of Bunny. See Deborah Edwards, ‘Rupert Bunny: enigma <strong>and</strong> success’, in Rupert Bunny: artist in Paris, <strong>Art</strong> Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2009, p. 17 3 David Thomas, Rupert Bunny, Lansdowne, Melbourne, 1970, p. 20
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