Craig Ruddy (8 August 1968 – 4 January 2022) was an Australian artist, known for winning the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

in 2004 with his portrait of Aboriginal actor

David Gulpilil David Dhalatnghu Gulpilil (1 July 1953 – 29 November 2021), known professionally as David Gulpilil and posthumously (at his family's request, to avoid naming the dead) as David Dalaithngu for three days, was an Indigenous Australian actor ...

Early life and education

Ruddy was born on 8 August 1968, at Forestville,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He grew up near

Ku-ring-gai Chase Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a national park on the northern side of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The park is north of the Sydney central business district and generally comprises the land east of the M1 Pacific Motorway, ...

and

Garigal National Park The Garigal National Park is a protected national park that is located within the North Shore and Forest District regions of Sydney, New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately north of the Sydney cen ...

s. He was only allowed by his parents to participate in limited physical activity after a life-threatening illness. In the 1980s he studied design and fashion illustration, turning to art and painting around 2001.

Career

In 2004 he won the

for his charcoal drawing of

entitled ''Two Worlds''. The portrait of the Aboriginal actor won both the Archibald portrait prize and the People's Choice Award. Another artist, Tony Johansen, took legal action against the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

Trust over the portrait. Johansen argued that, because Ruddy predominantly used

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

in his work, it was a drawing and not a painting and therefore was ineligible for the prize. However the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court i ...

dismissed Johansen's claim. After the 2004 Archibald, Ruddy developed ''Poppy Seeds'', a series of portraits, nudes and self-studies which were exhibited in November 2004. The series addressed the

tall poppy syndrome The tall poppy syndrome is a cultural phenomenon in which people hold back, criticise or sabotage those who have or are believed to have achieved notable success in one or more aspects of life, particularly intellectual or cultural wealth; "cut ...

that often accompanies success in Australia. His

diptych A diptych (; from the Greek δίπτυχον, ''di'' "two" + '' ptychē'' "fold") is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world w ...

''Self-portrait - into the box'' was one of the 2006 Archibald Prize finalists. In August 2006, Ruddy's ''Two Worlds'' sold to a private collector at a

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

auction in Sydney for $312,000. It had been valued at between $150,000 and $180,000. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, Ruddy won the Archibald People's Choice Prize for his portrait of

Warwick Thornton Warwick Thornton (born 1970) is an Australian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. His debut feature film ''Samson and Delilah'' won the Caméra d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and the award for Best Film at the Asia Pacific Sc ...

entitled ''The Prince of Darkness''. He was an Archibald Prize finalist in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

with a portrait of athlete

Cathy Freeman Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman (born 16 February 1973) is an Aboriginal Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time, set ...

and in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

with his portrait of author

Bruce Pascoe Bruce Pascoe (born 1947) is an Aboriginal Australian writer of literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays and children's literature. As well as his own name, Pascoe has written under the pen names Murray Gray and Leopold Glass. Since August 2 ...

Personal life and death

From around 2001, Ruddy lived across three locations: the eastern Sydney suburb of

Tamarama Tamarama is a beachside suburb, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tamarama is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council. Tamarama has a small ...

; the

Byron Bay Byron Bay ( Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah)'' is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia on Bundjalung Country. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a hea ...

hinterland; and

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina. Ruddy died of complications related to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on 4 January 2022, at the age of 53. He was unvaccinated. He was survived by his partner of 20 years, Roberto Meza Mont.

References

External links

Official website
* 1968 births 2022 deaths 21st-century Australian painters Archibald Prize winners Archibald Prize People's Choice Award winners Archibald Prize finalists Australian portrait painters Artists from Sydney Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia 21st-century male artists Australian male painters Australian LGBT artists {{Australia-painter-stub