Chiffons 1917

Curator: Rupert Bunny's "Chiffons," painted in 1917, depicts a woman carefully examining a piece of fabric. It's an oil painting, rendered in that soft, Impressionistic style Bunny was so fond of. Editor: It feels intensely intimate, doesn’t it? Like a stolen glance into a private world. The palette is muted, almost dreamlike, except for that burst of fiery orange in the bottom right corner. That single splash of bold color grounds it somehow. Curator: Absolutely. Bunny was fascinated by the leisured lives of women, particularly in domestic settings. He spent a significant part of his career in Paris, capturing these quiet moments of bourgeois life. It’s a painting of genre but with an obvious elegance and style, that you could even call modernism. Editor: Do you think it's just observation, or is there something more going on? I mean, what's she really seeing in that fabric? Is she dreaming of galas, or mending a tear with resignation? What kind of agency do these bourgeois women have beyond home confines? It is very different being a bourgeois in Australia as opposed to Paris, no? Curator: That's the question, isn't it? Is Bunny simply documenting, or is he offering a subtle commentary on the lives of women at this particular moment? Remember this was painted during the First World War, so beneath the seemingly tranquil surface, there would have been societal anxieties. In these interior settings of women, is it possible to consider this is also part of war effort? Editor: True. You see something else in this work the more we study it, a quiet hum of resilience, an almost defiance in continuing on. And how interesting it feels staged somehow. Like this could easily work as theatre. There’s such incredible visual storytelling present. The light almost spotlights her. Curator: It's also technically impressive. The way he handles the folds of fabric, the play of light on the woman's skin. You can feel the textures of the silk. There’s almost this gentle choreography between her dress, the cloth, the orange folds on the table… Editor: It is beautiful, certainly beautiful and unsettling. That intense private focus asks the question: are we intruding into this woman's quiet sphere? Or is this scene inviting, with Bunny himself asking if anyone cares to notice and observe what they are observing? I like it best that we may never truly know. Curator: It’s a beautiful picture which invites you to be at ease, but as we found out during our discussion it contains quite interesting ideas!