Buss, Robert William (1804-75; English) The Monopolist 1840 Oil on canvas, 51.1 x 61.0 cm Purchased, 1877 (advice of Archibald Michie) National Gallery of Victoria (p.305.10-1) The artist made his name with illustrative images like this. Indeed, as NGV curator Ted Gott observes, Buss was engaged during the 1830s to produce illustrations for Dickens’ Pickwick Papers, and
Burn, Henry (1807?-84; English/Australian) Melbourne from the Domain 1871 Oil on canvas, 39.2 x 64.5 cm (sight) Purchased, 1891 State Library of Victoria (H297) The skyline of Melbourne, here looking distinctly Tuscan, hovers on the horizon, beyond a classicizing scene of bucolic bliss. This is one of several early Melbourne images by Burn, who arrived in Australia
Bunny, Rupert (1864-1947; Australian) Sea Idyll (c.1891) Oil on canvas, 100.5 x 161.5 cm Gift of Alfred Felton, 1892 National Gallery of Victoria (p.399.1-1) This racy picture in the French Salon style, the only work Felton gave to the NGV during his lifetime, was also the sole Australian painting hanging in the NGV’s La Trobe Gallery