the ngv's interest had been piqued by the fact that some of highmore's works were already in australia, brought there by highmore's grandson - in 1947 a number of those works later also ended up in the ngv, most notably his . the ngv's four works from the "pamela" series were first exhibited on 10 may 1921, with one local newspaper remarking that they "tell their story dramatically and, though the drawing is occasionally weak, the figures have a certain feeling of life and vitality that renders them interesting from the illustrative point of view". the four works which remained in the national gallery were transferred from there to the national gallery of british art (now tate britain) in 1934 and the twelve works were last reunited in 1963 at kenwood house.