Guy Wilkie Warren (born 16 April 1921) is an Australian painter who won 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, the editor ...

in 1985 with ''Flugelman with Wingman''. His works have also been exhibited as finalists in the

Dobell Prize The Dobell Drawing Prize is a biennial drawing prize and exhibition, held by the National Art School in association with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation.The prize is an open call to all artists and aims to explore the enduring importance ...

and he received the Trustees Watercolour Award at the

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

in 1980. He turned 100 in 2021.

Career

Military service

Warren (Service number NX110908) served in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

from 15 May 1941 until 3 April 1946. During his service outside Australia in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

and Bougainville Island with the 136 Advance Supply Depot he rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant. Many of Warren's creative influences can be traced to his Army service. An experience of the jungle at Canungra in southeast

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, which was reinforced during his service in

became a constant theme throughout his career.

Artistic career

At the end of

, Warren undertook art training at the National Art School. During this time, Warren met other veteran artists who had also served in World War II, and who took advantage of the Commonwealth's post war training scheme. On completing this program, Warren travelled to England to pursue landscape painting where a chance meeting with a young veteran and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, provided the opportunity to continue his passion for the jungle through photos Sir David provided from his own travels to New Guinea. Warren has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions. In 2016, the S. H. Ervin Gallery held ''Genesis of a painter: Guy Warren at 95'', which focussed on works from the 1950s and 60s together with works painted late in his life. The intention of the exhibition was to show Warren's "enduring imagery of the relationship between the figure and background". At least two exhibitions were held at the time of his hundredth birthday, ''From the Mountain to the Sky'', held by the National Art School; and ''Hills and Wings: A Celebration of Guy Warren and his Work'', at the University of Wollongong, where he was previously the director of the University's art collection.

As an artist's subject

Warren has been a sitter for portraits on several occasions, including for four or five artists painting for Australia's premier portraiture competition, the Archibald Prize. In the early 2000s he posed for Ann Cape, for her work ''Figure within the landscape: Guy Warren'', that hung in the 2004 prize exhibition. Then in 2021, the 100th year of the Archibald Prize, painter Peter Wegner won the award for his portrait of Warren – who was, like the prize, in his hundredth year.

Honours and awards

Warren was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1999 and was made a Member of the Order of Australia for "significant service to the visual arts as a painter, teacher, mentor and competition judge" in 2014.

References

External links

Guy Warren works in the University of Wollongong LibraryGuy Warren works held in the University of Wollongong Art Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Guy Australian painters Australian centenarians Archibald Prize winners Living people Men centenarians 1921 births Members of the Order of Australia Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers