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Rupert BUNNY, Nocturne REDUCE 1/1


Rupert BUNNY

St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 1864 – 1947

  • Movements: England and France 1884-1933


Nocturne
[The distant song I] c.1908
oil on canvas 220.8 h x 180.5 w cm
Purchased 1976
Accession No: NGA 76.90.1

In this dreamy scene three elaborately gowned women with accessories of roses and richly coloured shawls and fans, pose together on a balcony. Nocturne is one of a series of night balcony scenes that Bunny painted which evoke a mood of intimacy and luxurious leisure, of perfume, poetry and distant music. Though ostensibly intimate, the scenario is theatrical.


Text © National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2010