George Lambert’s intimate portrait Girl with Dog is just one of the splendid works coming out of storage.

This is one of a number of portraits that Lambert painted of young girls and most likely depicts Mary Mond (1901–1937), the 11-year-old daughter of the British industrialist and politician Sir Alfred Mon BT, later first Baron Melchett and one of the founders of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI).

Lambert depicted the young girl sitting slightly precariously on the elegant sofa.

He presented her with her face in profile in a version of the Whistler’s mother pose, but without the rigorous simplification of that painting.

Indeed, he showed Mary as a pretty young miss with rosy cheeks, hair in ringlets and wearing a frilly white dress.

The fluffy white dog nearby, looking up at her attentively and painted in a similar range of whites to her dress, suggests that she may have had some of the cuteness and cuddliness of this dog.

In his depiction of the decorative fabric on the sofa, the floral carpet, and the Japanese screen, this portrait is unusual for Lambert. This luscious background is indicative of the wealth with which Mary Mond was surrounded and shows the influence of the Japanese aesthetic in art and interiors during the early twentieth century. Girl with Dog can be viewed in Drury Court alongside many of the Gallery’s late nineteenth and early twentieth-century narrative paintings, such as Carl Herpfer’s Festival Preparations.  

Herpfer worked within the strong German narrative tradition, painting complex and highly detailed works looking to the past for inspiration.

While painted in the late nineteenth century, the dress and decoration in Festival Preparations are from at least a century before.

This layered composition – replete with colour, texture and form – is evocative of Baroque painting of the mid- eighteenth century. 

This painting was once included in Robert Hill Kinnear’s highly regarded art collection, alongside another of the gallery’s prized paintings The Golden Wedding.

These are just two of the wonderful works returning to display and many more will be installed in the coming weeks.

The Bendigo Art Gallery opens daily including public holidays (closed Christmas Day), 10am - 5pm.

Entry by donation.

Tours of the permanent collection daily at 11am and 2pm.

- Tansy Curtin, Bendigo Art Gallery