Lot 17

The Collection of Mr and Mrs J. F. C. Forsayth, Melbourne
Gifted by the above to their daughter Irene Ida about the time of her marriage to Charles Leslie Falkiner in 1924
Thence by descent to their daughter Patricia (Mrs John Fisken) of Lal Lal Estate, Yendon, Victoria c.1950
Sotheby's, Sydney, 17 November 1988, lot 233A (as "Moonlight Sonata")
Private collection, Sydney
Christies, Melbourne, 6 May 2003, lot 60 (as "Moonlight Sonata")
Private collection, Western Australia

Exhibition of Pictures by Rupert Bunny, Athenaeum Gallery, Melbourne, 24 July - 14 August, 1911, cat. no. 9
Société Nationale des Beaux Arts, Lyon, 1912, cat. no. 226 (as "La Sonate")
Société Nationale des Beaux Arts, Lyon, 1921, cat. no. 212

Gérard-Austin, A., The Greatest Voyage: Australian Painters in the Paris Salons, 1885-1939, doctoral thesis, Universite Paris 1 - Pantheon-Sorbonne, March 2014, vol. 2, pp. 18, 83, 128 (illus.)
Thomas, D., The Life and Art of Rupert Bunny: A Catalogue Raisonné in Two Volumes, Thames & Hudson, Melbourne, 2017, vol. 2, p. 46, cat. no. O320

Rupert Bunny's (1864-1947) 'The Sonata' (c.1910) is a refined example from his Nights and Days of August series, painted between 1907 and early 1911 during his time in France. This body of work centres on intimate interior and balcony settings featuring women in moments of quiet introspection, draped in embroidered robes, fans and music, set against a backdrop of moonlight and distant sea.

In 'The Sonata', two women are positioned within a domestic setting. The seated figure, Bunny's wife Jeanne Morel, wears a white gown with a soft pink robe, gazing introspectively as she adjusts her hair and loosely holds an empty glass. Standing behind her, the women in green gently leans forward, looking outward. Behind them, the curtain is parted to reveal a glimpse of the moonlit sea. The palette is subdued and warm with the striped drapery and timber floor proving compositional structure. The mood is quiet, observational, and reflective, qualities that typify Bunny's work from this period.

The painting was included in Bunny's major solo exhibition at the Athenaeum Gallery, Melbourne, in July 1911. Opened by the Governor of Victoria, Sir John Fuller, one hundred and three paintings were listed in the catalogue, selected from the previous ten years of his oeuvre. (1) 'The Sonata' appeared as No. 9 in the exhibition catalogue, priced at 50 guineas, and was acquired by J. F. C. Forsayth, a prominent collector and director of the Burns Philp Company. It remained in the Forsayth family for several decades and was gifted by Mr and Mrs Forsayth to their daughter Irene at the time of her marriage to Charles Leslie Falkiner, nephew of Leigh Sadlier Falkiner of Wanganella Station, Deniliquin. Around 1950, Irene Falkiner passed the painting on to her daughter, Patricia Fisken.

'The Sonata' shares thematic affinities with other works from the same series, including 'Nocturne' (c.1908) and 'The Distant Song' (c.1910) in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, and another painting also titled 'The Sonata' (c.1910) in the collection of the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria. The Ballarat painting, larger in scale and depicting three figures, shares compositional and thematic similarities, but the present work is more restrained, both in size and atmosphere. A similar example, 'Une Nuit de Canicule' (c.1910) was sold by Leonard Joel in 1988 for $1.25 million and was the first million-dollar painting sold at auction in Australia.

'The Sonata' holds lasting cultural and art historical significance as a key work of Rupert Bunny's mature style, capturing the harmony between European elegance and introspective subject matter that defined his most celebrated period.

Hannah Ryan
Senior Art Specialist, Manager of Specialty Auctions

(1) Thomas, D., The Life and Art of Rupert Bunny: A Catalogue Raisonné in Two Volumes, Thames & Hudson, Melbourne, 2017, p.146

RELATED WORK:
Rupert Bunny, Une Nuit de Canicule, oil on canvas, 227 x 249cm, Leonard Joel, 2 November 1988, lot 125, since destroyed in a fire, London.
(When this painting was sold at Leonard Joel in 1988, the price of $1,250,000 was a record for an Australian painting).

A painting of the same title is held in The Collection of the Art Gallery of Ballarat.