Sir William Dobell (24 September 1899 - 13 May 1970) was an Australian artist (sculptor and painter). The Electoral Division of Dobell is named after him. September 24 is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years). ... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... May 13 is the 133rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (134th in leap years). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Look up Artist in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... An Italian Futurist sculpture by Umberto Boccioni at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (MoMA). ... A painter is a person who paints woodwork, walls, etc. ... The Division of Dobell is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. ...

Early years and training

William Dobell was born in Cooks Hill, a working class neighbourhood of Newcastle, New South Wales. His father was a builder and there were six children. A view of Newcastle from Stockton Newcastle is Australias sixth largest city and the second largest in the state of New South Wales. ... Emblems: Floral - Waratah (Telopea Speciosissima); Bird - Kookaburra (Dacelo Gigas); Animal - Platypus (Ornithorhynchus Anatinus); Fish - Blue Groper (Achoerodus Viridis) Motto: Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) Slogan or Nickname: First State, Premier State Other Australian states and territories Capital Sydney Government Governor Premier Const. ...

Dobell's artistic talents were evident early. In 1916, he was apprenticed to Newcastle architect, Wallace L. Porter and in 1924 he moved to Sydney as a draftsman. In 1925, he enrolled in evening art classes at Julian Ashton's School and was influenced by George Lambert. Architect at his drawing board, 1893 An architect is a person involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a buildings construction. ... The Sydney Opera House is one of the most iconic landmarks in the world, and since its opening it has become an international symbol of Sydney Sydney (pronounced ) is the state capital of New South Wales, located on the east coast of Australia. ...

In 1929, Dobell was awarded the Society of Artists' Travelling Scholarship and travelled to England to the Slade School where he studied under Wilson Steer, Henry Tonks and William Orpen. Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked... Part of the University College London, the Slade School of Art was founded in 1868 as the result of an endowment by Felix Slade. ... Self Portrait, circa 1910, Metropolitan Museum of Art. ...

In 1930, Dobell won first prize for figure painting at Slade and also travelled to Poland. In 1931 Dobell travelled to Belgium and Paris, and then returned to Australia from England. The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city, with the skyscrapers of La Défense business district 5 km/ 3 mi behind. ...

Work

William Dobell's The Red Lady (1938)

In 1939, he began as a part-time teacher at East Sydney Technical College. In 1941 Dobell was drafted into the Civil Construction Corps of the Allied Works Council as a camouflage painter; he later became an unofficial war artist. In 1944, Dobell had his first solo exhibition including public collection loans at the inauguration of the David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney. Image File history File links William_Dobell_red_lady_1938. ... Image File history File links William_Dobell_red_lady_1938. ... Anolis caroliensis showing blending camouflage and counter-shading. ... War artists capture the experience of war in an artistic manner whilst based in the battlefield. ...

In 1949, he visited New Guinea as a guest of Sir Edward Hallstrom with writers Frank Clame and Colin Simpson. The trip inspired a new series of tiny, brilliantly coloured landscapes. In 1950, he revisited New Guinea and on his return to Wangi he continued to paint scenes of New Guinea, as well as portraits.

Between 1960 and 1963 TIME magazine commissioned Dobell to paint four portraits for covers, one per year, of: Rt. Hon. Robert Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia; South Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem; Frederick G. Donner, the Chairman of General Motors; and Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaysia. (Clockwise from upper left) Notable Time magazine covers from the dates May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... Sir Robert Gordon Menzies KT AK CH QC FRS, (20 December 1894 – 14 May 1978), Australian politician, was the twelfth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia, serving a total of eighteen and a half years in office from 1939 to 1941 and from 1949 to 1966. ... Judicial High Court Lower Courts Constitution State and territory governments Executive Governors and Administrators Premiers and Chief Ministers Legislative Parliaments and Assemblies State electoral systems ACT - NSW - NT - Qld. ... Official language Vietnamese Capital Saigon Last President Duong Van Minh Last Prime Minister Vu Van Mau Area  - Total  - % water 173,809 km² N/A Population  - Total  - Density 19,370,000 (1973 est. ... «ngoh dihn zih-ehm» (January 3, 1901 – November 2, 1963) was the first President of the Republic of Vietnam (1955–63). ... General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM), also known as GM, is an American automobile maker with worldwide operations and brands including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Vauxhall. ... Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Shah (February 8, 1903–December 6, 1990) usually known as the Tunku (a princely title in Malaysia), and also called Bapa Kemerdekaan (Father of Independence) or Bapa Malaysia (Father of Malaysia), was Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya... The Prime Minister of Malaysia is the indirectly elected head of government of Malaysia. ...

In 1964, Dobell exhibited in a major retrospective at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the first monograph of his work was written by James Gleeson. The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) is an art gallery, open to the public, and located in The Domain in Sydney, Australia. ... James Gleeson (born 21 November 1915) is one of Australias most well known surrealist artists, as well as a poet, critic, writer and curator. ...

Prizes and honours

In 1943, Dobell's work of Joshua Smith "Portrait of an artist" was awarded the Archibald Prize. This was contested in 1944 by two unsuccessful artists who brought a lawsuit against Dobell and the Gallery's Board of Trustees in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The award was upheld but the ordeal left Dobell emotionally disturbed and he retreated in 1945 to his sister's home at Wangi Wangi on Lake Macquarie, where he began to paint landscapes. Dobell did not like fame and it nearly destroyed him. Marcus Willss winning painting in 2006, The Paul Juraszek Monolith, was based on this print by an earlier Marcus, Marcus Gheeraerts The Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize, and is the most prominent of all arts prizes, in Australia. ... The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the superior court for the Australian State of New South Wales. ... Lake Macquarie is the name of a Local Government Area (the City of Lake Macquarie) and a lake, both located in NSW, Australia, approximately 150km north of Sydney, Australia, and 20km south of Newcastle. ...

In 1948, Dobell entered "Margaret Olley" in the Archibald and won; he also won the Wynne prize for "Storm approaching Wangi". Wynne Prize, Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. ...

In 1959, Dobell again won the Archibald for "Dr E. G. MacMahon".

Dobell was awarded an Order of the British Empire in 1965 and was Knighted in 1966. Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ...

Legacy

He died in 1970 at Wangi. On 19 January 1971 The Sir William Dobell Art Foundation was formed and became the sole beneficiary of the artist's estate. January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ...

Analysis

Dobell's style is unique in being able to adapt to suit the character of his subject. This was best described by James Gleeson; "One of the astonishing things about Dobell's portraiture is his ability to adjust his style to the nature of the personality he is portraying.... If the character of his sitter is broad and generous, he paints broadly and generously. If the character is contained and inward looking, he uses brushstrokes that convey this fact. In his later portraits one has only to look at a few square inches of a painted sleeve to know what sort of person is wearing it."

This chameleon-like ability made his work vary from Impressionism to Expressionism. Impressionism was a 19th century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists who began publicly exhibiting their art in the 1860s. ... The Scream by Edvard Munch (1893) which inspired 20th century Expressionists Portrait of Eduard Kosmack by Egon Schiele Rehe im Walde by Franz Marc On White II by Wassily Kandinsky, 1923. ...

What typifies Dobell's work is the elongation or dramaticisation of features of his models or the landscape. This led to the Joshua Smith portrait being called a 'caricature' or 'cartoon' (the Archibald is a 'portrait' competition) in the court case.

Dobell was capable of displaying crisp objectiveness one moment and fleshy satire which reflected a subjective, somewhat darker view of the world the next. His works include portraits, figures and landscapes. He was and remains arguably Australia's most talented and successful portrait artist.

Among private and other public holdings, examples of Dobell's work are exhibited in the Newcastle Region Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia is a major art gallery (museum) in Canberra, Australia. ... For other uses, see Canberra (disambiguation). ...

Exhibitions

The following are Dobell's Solo Exhibitions:

• 1942 'Margaret Preston and William Dobell loan exhibition' Art Gallery of New South Wales, 19 March-16 April
• 1944 'William Dobell', David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, 1-26 August
• 1954 'William Dobell, exhibition of paintings', David Jones' Art Gallery, 27 January-17 February
• 1959 'The Art of William Dobell' National Gallery Society of Queensland, Finney Isles Gallery, Brisbane, August-September
• 1960 'William Dobell', War Memorial Gallery of Fine Arts, The University of Sydney, 12-27 April
• 1960 'William Dobell', Museum of Modern Art of Australia, Melbourne, 17 May-10 June
• 1960 'Dobell loan exhibition', Newcastle City Art Gallery, 22 June-30 July
• 1960 Adelaide]], Adelaide Festival of the Arts
• 1964 'William Dobell paintings from 1926-1964', Art Gallery of New South Wales, 15 July-30 August
• 1964 'William Dobell exhibitions', Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria, November
• 1965 'William Dobell, first London exhibition', Commonwealth Arts Festival, QANTAS Gallery, London, 16 Sept.-2 Oct.
• 1970 'Sir William Dobell recent paintings', Newcastle City Art Gallery, 3-26 April
• 1970 'Paintings and Drawings by Sir William Dobell', Girl Guides Association of New South Wales, Robert Wardrop Galleries, Sydney, 26 September-1 October
• 1985 'William Dobell. The Painting of a Portrait', Lake Macquarie Community Gallery, 7 February-10 March; S. H. Ervin Gallery, 21 March-28 April
• 1993 'William Dobell exhibitions', David Jones Art Gallery, 1-21 April
• 1997-1998 'William Dobell; the painter's progress,' The Art Gallery of New South Wales, 14 February-27 April 97; Newcastle Region Art Gallery, 7 May-6 July 97; Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Melbourne, 29 July-21 September 97; Queensland Art Gallery, 25 October-7 December 97; Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 8 January-1 March 98

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See also

• Art of Australia

Australia is home to perhaps the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world - that is, those of the Aboriginal Australians, an artistic tradition that began to receive international recognition in the late 20th century. ...

External link

• biography