BIOGRAPHY
1864 Born Charles Rupert Wulsten Bunny on 29 September, in St Kilda, Melbourne.
1881 Began studies at the School of Design, National Gallery of Victoria, with fellow students including Julian Ashton, Arthur Streeton,
Bertram Mackennal, Frederick McCubbin and Emanuel Phillips Fox.
1883 First exhibition of work, with students of the National Gallery of Victoria school
1884 Travels to Europe with father, Judge Bunny. Studies at St John’s Wood Art School, London.
1884-85 Attends Calderons Art School
1886-92 Studied under Jean Paul Laurens, Pierre Paul Léon Glaize and Benjamin Constant in Paris during this period.
1902 Marries Jeanne Morel. Settles in France, where in the following years he
achieves a certain amount of recognition
1904 Begins teaching from this time
1911 Returns to Australia for a visit - returning for longer periods through the 1920s.
Exhibits in Sydney and Melbourne during this time.
1912 Elected sociétaire of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris
1933 After the death of Jeanne, returns permanently to Australia, living in South Yarra,
Melbourne. Explores his love of music during his final years.
1938 Elected first vice-president of the Contemporary Art Society.
1947 Died on 25 May 1947 in Melbourne, aged 82.
EXHIBITIONS
Has been exhibited widely since 1883 in over 300 solo and group shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Paris and London, including a major retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, in 1946. Exhibited successfully at the Royal Academy and the Paris Salon. Was included in many Contemporary Art Society exhibitions. Selected exhibitions include:
1900 Exposition Internationale Universelle, Paris (British section)
1901 Golden Jubilee, Bendigo
1904 Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne; Royal South Australian Society of Arts,
7th Federal Art, Adelaide
1910 Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
1911 Athenaeum, Melbourne; Lawson & Little, Sydney; Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
1914 Australian Art Association, Melbourne
1918 Loan Exhibition of Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1922 Fine Art Society, Melbourne
1923 Anthony Horderns Gallery, Sydney
1924 Society of Artists, Sydney; Australian Art Association, Melbourne
1925 Loan Exhibition of Australian Paintings, National Gallery of Victoria,
Melbourne; Anthony Horderns Gallery, Sydney
1926 New Gallery, Melbourne
1927 Athenaeum, Melbourne; Twenty Melbourne Painters, Melbourne
1928 Athenaeum, Melbourne; Anthony Horderns Gallery, Sydney; Twenty
Melbourne Painters, Melbourne
1930 Eight Artists at the Athenaeum, Melbourne; Queensland Art Fund, Town Hall, Brisbane; Athenaeum, Melbourne
1932 Macleod Gallery, Sydney; Twenty Melbourne Painters, Melbourne
1933 Everyman’s Library, Melbourne; Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne;
Athenaeum, Melbourne; Twenty Melbourne Painters, Melbourne
1934 Contemporary Art Group, Melbourne; Twenty Melbourne Painters, Melbourne;
Centenary Art, Commonwealth Bank Chambers, Melbourne; Everyman’s
Library, Melbourne
1935 Contemporary Art Group, Melbourne; Twenty Melbourne Painters, Melbourne
1936 Contemporary Art Group, Melbourne; Twenty Melbourne Painters, Melbourne;
Hogan’s, Melbourne; Geelong Grammar, Corio, Victoria
1937 Hogan’s, Melbourne; Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne, Contemporary Art Group, Melbourne; Twenty Melbourne Painters, Melbourne; Stair Gallery,
Melbourne; Sedon Gallery, Melbourne
1938 150 Years of Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Herald
Exhibition of Outstanding Pictures of 1937, Athanaeum, Melbourne; Hogan’s, Melbourne; Twenty Melbourne Painters, Melbourne
1940 Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne; Macquarie Galleries, Sydney;
Athanaeum, Melbourne; Contemporary Group, Sydney; Twenty Melbourne Painters, Melbourne
1941 Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne; Contemporary Group, Sydney;
Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Twenty Melbourne Painters, Melbourne;
Melbourne Contemporary Arists, Athenaeum, Melbourne; Second Exhibition of Prints at Canberra, Macquarie, Canberra
1942 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
1943 Fifth Annual Show of Fives, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Launceston Art
Society annual, Launceston; Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne;
Contemporary Group, Sydney; Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1944 Private Collections, Melbourne City Council, Town Hall, Melbourne;
Contemporary Group, Sydney; Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne; Illawarra Education Conference, Wollongong
1945 Victorian Art, David Jones Gallery, Sydney; Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1946 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Bunny Retrospective, National Gallery of
Victoria, Melbourne
1947 Georges Gallery, Melbourne; Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1948 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Georges Gallery, Melbourne
1949, 51, 62 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1968 Newcastle City Art Gallery; Manly Art Gallery, Sydney
1969 Clune Galleries, Sydney
1972 National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1977 Queensland University Art Museum, Brisbane; University of Melbourne
Gallery
1979 University of Melbourne Gallery
1984 National Gallery of Victoria, Heidelberg
1986 Australian National Gallery, Canberra
REFERENCES
Eagle, M. The Art of Rupert Bunny, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1991