Terms and conditions of use
The monopolist
1840
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1877
- Gallery location
- 19th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Robert Buss’ painting offers a gentle comedy of manners that perhaps illustrates the injustice of the trade protection policies in Britain in the first half of the nineteenth century. Tariffs against imports kept prices of basic goods artificially high in England, to the profit of landowners and cost of the poor. Supporters of free trade were stifled by repressive measures, including a gag on the press. Buss, whose own finances were shaky at the time of painting this scene, portrays access to basic commodities such as warmth and even the daily news as a privilege of the rich. Reform in favour of free trade took place in 1846.
Artwork Details
Purchased, 1877
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Level 2, NGV International
Exhibited Society of British Artists, London, 1840, no. 359; Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester, 1857, no. 389, owner R. Napier