A luxury retreat in the New South Wales Hunter Valley has apologised after a photograph revealed a painting of an Indigenous massacre on display.
Redleaf Wollombi copped backlash over the weekend for a photograph from their own Instagram which saw a wedding party posing around the colonial artwork.
The photograph went viral over the weekend after Indigenous-owned business Dreamtime Aroha posted screenshots to their platforms.
"I'm not sure at what point anyone would hang up in their venue or consent to a wedding picture being taken in front of a painting of a brutal Aboriginal massacre?" they wrote.
"Seems like a beautiful venue I'm actually speechless why this is featured in there."
One user commented noting that the painting appeared in "many photo shoots".
"There are multiple photos from different weddings of bridesmaids posing and laughing in front of it. It is sickening," they wrote.
In a statement to NITV, which was later posted to social media, the venue said they were "deeply sorry" and "never intended to upset anybody".
They have since removed both the painting from the venue. They also deleted the photo of the wedding party in front of the painting and the two-post apology from their Instagram
"We are very remorseful that we have caused anyone to feel pain on seeing these paintings; this was never our intention, " they wrote.
They said the "main painting that dominated discussion" was Views of Brazil created in 1829 by Jean-Julien Deltil. Deltil was hired by French manufacturer Zuber to create the wallpaper.
It referenced original images by traveller Johann Mortiz Rugendas which show Portuguese colonial violence against Indigenous people in Brazil.
The venue came to acquire the three-panelled wallpaper after the death of a "close family friend".
The venue continued, noting that when the Art Gallery of NSW and the National Gallery of Australia hosted an "exhibition of similar works" art historian John McPhee wrote an article that said he was touched that "artists in 1829 were aware of the bad influence of European civilisation on different cultures".
They said there was a "full transcript" of the article alongside the panels.
"This is a deliberate effort by Redleaf to ensure that anyone viewing the painting has a full understanding of the context of the three panels, along with this negative history," they said.
A number of users said Redleaf had missed the point with their apology, before the venue disabled replies on the two posts.
The artwork is part of 'Views of Brazil' from 1829 and depicts the Portuguese colonisation of Rio de Janeiro.
