Title
Bell dance
(circa 1920)
Artist
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Details
- Other Titles
- Bell Dance
Bell dancers
Danseuses aux cloches - Place where the work was made
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Paris
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France
- Date
- (circa 1920)
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 54.0 x 64.8 cm stretcher; 67.9 x 78.0 x 5.0 cm frame; 52.9 x 63.6 cm sight edge
- Signature & date
Signed l.r. corner, black oil "RCWB" in monogram. Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1969
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- OA16.1969
- Copyright
- Artist information
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Rupert Bunny
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
'Bell dance' is gloriously coloured, with a rhythmic composition depicting a group of handbell ringers cavalcading across the pictorial surface, with one stooping with the weight of a large bell. Rupert Bunny presents these figures in a flat, decorative style, reminiscent of a Greek frieze or painted vase.
The painting visually encapsulates the vibrancy of modern dance and the exotic splendour of France’s belle époque, as well as the brilliant and unconventional colour combinations used in the costumes and sets of the Ballets Russes. Applying pure colour, Bunny created vibrant patterns using dynamic arabesque lines, interwoven to create vivid tapestry-like surfaces.
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Places
Where the work was made
Paris
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Exhibition history
Shown in 3 exhibitions
Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003
Singing in the heart: Music and the art of Rupert Bunny (2007), Rockhampton Museum of Art, Rockhampton, 08 Jun 2007–29 Jul 2007
Rupert Bunny: artist in Paris, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Nov 2009–21 Feb 2010
Rupert Bunny: artist in Paris, Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne, 18 Mar 2010–04 Jul 2010
Rupert Bunny: artist in Paris, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 23 Jul 2010–04 Oct 2010
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Bibliography
Referenced in 8 publications
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Jane Clark, Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, 'Rupert Bunny / E. Phillips Fox', pg. 20-31, Sydney, 2002, 7 (colour illus,. detail), 24 (colour illus.), 25, 28, 142, 147.
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Deborah Edwards, Look, 'Rupert Bunny: An exotic in the history of Australian art', pg. 28-32, Sydney, Nov 2009, 49 (colour illus.). Members events section
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Deborah Edwards, Rupert Bunny: artist in Paris, 'Danse chromatique', pg. 103-131, Sydney, 2009, 116 (colour illus.), 122, 125, 205 (colour illus.). cat.no. 46
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Desmond Macaulay and Bettina Macaulay, Singing in the heart: Music and the art of Rupert Bunny, 'Post-war rhythms', pg.89-97, Queensland, 2007, 93 (colour illus.), 108. no catalogue numbers
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Andrea Nottage and Simon Ives, Look, 'A question of colour: the hidden elements of Bunny's palette revealed', pg. 36-37, Sydney, Oct 2009, 36.
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David Thomas, Art Gallery of New South Wales Quarterly, 'Rupert Bunny', pg. 550-575, Sydney, Oct 1970, 555, 565 (illus.).
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David Thomas, Art and Australia [vol. 9, no. 4], 'Rupert Bunny', pg. 328-337, Sydney, Mar 1972, 328 (illus.), 331.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales Quarterly, 'Acquisitions for 1969', pg. 538, Sydney, Jul 1970, 540 (illus.), 541. plate no. 12
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