Terms and conditions of use
Lost
1886
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
115.8 × 73.9 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1940
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Born in the south-eastern French village of Forcalquier, Berthe Mouchette studied painting in Paris before training as an art teacher. While teaching, her own career flourished and Mouchette became a regular exhibitor at the Paris Salon. In 1881 Mouchette immigrated to Australia with her husband and sister Marie, purchasing a property on Gipps Street in East Melbourne. From a studio established in the garden, Mouchette offered painting and life-drawing classes for female students. In 1886 Mouchette and Marie purchased Oberwyl, a leading school for girls in St Kilda, and in 1890 Mouchette established the Melbourne branch of the Alliance Français.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Box Hill, Victoria
Inscription
inscribed in red paint l.l.: F McCubbin / 1886
Accession Number
1077-4
Department
Australian Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Subjects (general)
Emotions and Mental States Human Figures Landscapes
Subjects (specific)
anxiety Australia (nation) children (people by age group) girls lost (status of property) scrublands suffering wooded landscapes
Movements
Australian Impressionism Heidelberg School
Frame
Reproduction, 2007
Frame
No evidence has yet come to light of the original framing of the 1886 painting Lost. It was previously framed in the Whistlerian frame (see above image) introduced in 1937 to modernise the presentation of the NGV Australian painting collection. The frame on Lost was most likely fitted in the 1940s, the frame being made by the John Thallon company.
The impetus to reframe the painting came in 2007 with the preparation of the 'Australian Impressionism' exhibition.
In the absence of documentary evidence for the early framing of the work, prototypes from paintings by McCubbin from the same date were put forward. A McCubbin painting from 1886, Heath Paddock Hawthorn, in the Castlemaine Art Gallery & Historical Museum collection, is in its original frame, though the frame has been resurfaced. Moulds and detailed measurements of this frame were made to produce the reproduction frame for Lost.
Frame Details
Framemaker
Reproduction - commissioned by the NGV
Date
2007
Materials
Wooden chassis with cast composition moulding. Surface gilded and toned.