Across the street from Flinders St station is a pub known less for its beer (served here since 1861) than for its famous nude painting of the teenaged Chloe, painted by Jules Joseph Lefebvre. Chloe's yearning gaze, cast over her shoulder and out of the frame, made the work a hit at the 1875 Paris Salon.
The painting caused an outcry in parochial, provincial Melbourne, however, and was removed from display at the National Gallery of Victoria. Eventually purchased by publican and ‘art lover’ Henry Figsby Young in 1909, Chloe found an appreciative audience and a permanent home at this pub, where it's proudly displayed in the 1st-floor Chloe's Bar.
