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• Auction House:
  Bonhams Australia
• Sale Name:
  The Fred and Elinor Wrobel Collection | A Curated Salon
• Sale Date:
  23 Apr 2023 ~ 2pm (AEST)
• Lot #:
  40
• Lot Description:
  Rupert Bunny
  (1864-1947)
  Flowers in a Hungarian Jar, c.1926-1932
  oil on canvas
  66.5 x 45.0cm (26 3/16 x 17 11/16in).
  artist's monogram lower left
  RELATED WORKS: Mixed Flowers in a Hungarian Jar I, c.1926-1932, oil on canvas, 65.5 x 54.2cm, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Mixed Flowers in a Hungarian Jar II, c.1926-1932, oil on canvas, 65.0 x 54.0cm, private collection
• Provenance:
  The Fred and Elinor Wrobel Collection, Sydney
• Exhibited:
  Gardens, Flower Studies and Still Life Paintings by Australian Artists, 1890s - 1980s: From a Private Collection, Courtesy of Woolloomooloo Gallery, Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, New South Wales, 30 March – 30 April 1989, cat. 14; Floressence, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, University of New South Wales, College of Fine Arts, 24 October - 16 November 1996, cat. 3, then touring to Australian regional galleries
• References:
  David Thomas, The Life and Art of Rupert Bunny: A Catalogue Raisonne, Thames and Hudson, Melbourne, 2017, vol. 2, cat. O1041, p. 98
• Notes:
  'Oscar Wilde once commented that a cynic is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. By this definition, Fred and Elinor Wrobel are the antithesis of cynics. Passionate collectors, the Wrobels have amassed a remarkable collection of Australian art from the 1840s to the present day. But while they seem dismissive about the financial worth of their collection, they speak about each painting with a sort of affection others might lavish on children. Fred Wrobel, WWII Polish refugee, sailor and yacht builder, began collecting marine art before wife Elinor, a nurse who had once dreamed of studying painting, suggested they look at Australian art. A skilled draughtsman himself, Fred had never taken much interest in painting in Poland, but began to study Australian painters with enthusiasm. In the 1960s, Fred and Elinor were not wealthy investors, but rather skilled and committed foragers. They rummaged in old wares shops, visited young artists and attended auctions, buying odds and ends that no one else was interested in.... The works in this collection have toured every state in Australia since 1978, lent freely by the Wrobels, whose passion for sharing equals their passion for collecting.' - Annamarie Lopez, 'For Love Alone: Art Collectors Fred and Elinor Wrobel', Art Review
• Estimate:
  A$18,000 - 32,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.