Kerrie Lester (31 May 1953 – 5 April 2016) was an Australian artist''Who's Who in Australia'', ConnectWeb, 2016. who was a frequent finalist in 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 ...

for portraiture, although she never won the main prize. She was born to John Lester and Dolores Metcalfe at the

Crown Street Women's Hospital Crown Street Women's Hospital (now-closed) was once the largest maternity hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was located at 351 Crown Street (corner of Crown and Albion Streets), Surry Hills. The hospital was one of severa ...

Surry Hills Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surround ...

, Sydney in 1953, and studied fine arts at the

National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...

and the Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education between 1971 and 1975. She held her first solo exhibition in 1976. Lester was a finalist in the

sixteen times, but never won. She did win the associated Packing Room Prize in 1998, for her ''Self-portrait as a bridesmaid''—an allusion to the saying "Always a bridesmaid, never the bride" in relation to her missing out on the Archibald so regularly, and she stopped entering the competition in 2012. Nonetheless, the display of her work at the shortlist exhibitions increased her profile, and the National Portrait Gallery acquired or commissioned her portraits of Margaret Fink, Fred Hollows, James Morrison and

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 ...

. She was also a finalist in the

Portia Geach Memorial Award The Portia Geach Memorial Award is an annual prize for Australian female portraitists. The Award was established in 1961 as a testamentary trust by Florence Kate Geach, sister of Australian painter Portia Geach, with an initial endowment of AU£ ...

nine times, and was a regular finalist and exhibitor in 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 ...

and

Sir John Sulman Prize The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, having been established in 1936. It is now held concurrently with the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize, at the Art Galler ...

group exhibitions. In 2011, she won the

Mosman Art Prize The Mosman Art Prize is an annual art award made by the corporation of Mosman, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. It has been running since 1947. Past adjudicators also include notable Australian art figures such as Margaret Preston, John Olse ...

for her painting ''Out on a Limb''. In 2014, she was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

, stopping treatment after two

stem cell transplant Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood in order to replicate inside of a patient and to produce ...

s failed to stop the progression of the disease. She died on 5 April 2016, aged 62.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, Kerrie 1953 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Australian painters 21st-century Australian painters National Art School alumni Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in New South Wales Archibald Prize Packing Room Prize winners People educated at Pymble Ladies' College