“Pastorale” by Rupert Bunny

“Pastorale” was painted by Rupert Bunny, who was a magnificent colorist and erudite painter of classic themes. Bunny could masterfully handle large-scale compositions. This painting incorporates aspects of symbolism and allegorical subjects.

This painting is oddly named as it depicts the realms of land and sea, each with its inhabitants. Mermaids and mermen in the sea and the fauns on the land. The nymph and young man are slender, pale, and discreetly clothed.

The young man is seated on the sea bank with legs dangling as he plays his pipe, while the nymph next to him, listens with her head on his shoulder.

The sea nymphs are enjoying the music on the shore, and the fauns cup their hands around their ears to hear better.

Exploring the many details, we can see the red poppies, symbolizing dreams, and the white cliffs and a grotto in the distance suggesting the chalk cliffs of Brittany and Normandy.

This painting is a daydream that drifts between antiquity and a familiar modern landscape.

Rupert Bunny

Rupert Bunny (1864 – 1947) was an Australian painter who achieved success and critical acclaim as an expatriate in fin-de-siècle Paris.

He gained an honorable mention at the Paris Salon of 1890 and a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900.

The French state acquired 13 of his works for the Musée du Luxembourg and regional collections.

Pastorale

• Title:             Pastorale
• Artist:           Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny
• Dates:          1893
• Style:            Impressionism
• Materials:     Oil on Canvas
• Dimensions: 142.0 h x 251.0 w
• Museum:      National Gallery of Australia

Rupert Bunny

• Name:   Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny
• Born:     1864 – Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
• Died:     25 May 1947 (aged 82) – Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
• Major Paintings:
  • Pastorale, 1893
  • A Summer Morning, 1897
  • Endormies, 1904
  • Summer Time, 1907
  • La Fontaine, 1929

Rupert Bunny: artist in Paris

Rupert Bunny

A Tour of the National Gallery of Australia

• “The Green Parasol” by E. Phillips Fox
• “Landscape, Antibes (The Bay of Nice)” by John Peter Russell
• “Bridge and Wattle at Warrandyte” by Penleigh Boyd
• “Child in The Bush” by Frederick McCubbin
• “Miss Minna Simpson” by Tom Roberts
• “From McMahon’s Point – fare one penny” by Arthur Streeton
• “The Spirit of the Drought” by Arthur Streeton
• “Hot Wind” by Charles Conder
• “Purrumbete from across the Lake” by Eugene von Guerard
• Convict artist Richard Browne’s Watercolors
• “Govett’s Leap” by Eugene von Guerard
• “Pastorale” by Rupert Bunny
• “Meules, milieu du jour” by Claude Monet

Australian artist with a French connection

“Pastorale” by Rupert Bunny

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“Art is an illusion of spontaneity.”
– Japanese Proverb

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Photo Credit: Rupert Bunny [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons