Painting Found Underneath Australian Masterpiece
November 23 2020
Video: Sky News
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Australia that another painting has been found underneath a work in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
The painting in question is The Pioneers (1904) by Frederick McCubbin, one of Australian art's most famous pictures. Head of Conservation Michael Varcoe-Cocks had spotted some inconsistent brush work whilst walking around the galleries during lockdown and decided to investigate further. He then consulted some x-rays and discovered that the present work had been painted on top of another painting. As it transpires, this hidden scene was actually a previous work which the artist had failed to sell after it was exhibited in 1893.
Update - A reader has kindly written in to suggest this alternative video which provides more details than the one above. Alas, it's only available for viewers in Australia, unless you're using a proxy.
