Sir William Dobell (24 September 189913 May 1970) was an Australian

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

and landscape artist of the 20th century. Dobell 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 ...

, Australia's premier award for portrait artists on three occasions. 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 ...

is named in his honour.

Career

Dobell was born in

Cooks Hill Cooks Hill is an inner city suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is typified by its tree lined streets, rows of Victorian terrace housing, turn of the century timber cottages and corner pubs. Cooks Hill ...

, a working-class neighbourhood of

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

in Australia to Robert Way Dobell and Margaret Emma (née Wrightson). His father was a builder and there were six children. 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 the Sydney Art School (which later became the

Julian Ashton Art School The Julian Ashton Art School was established by Julian Ashton in 1890 as the "Academy Julian", (perhaps a reference to the Académie Julian in Paris) has been an influential art school in Australia. For a long time it was known as the Sydney Art ...

), with Henry Gibbons as his teacher. He was influenced by

George Washington Lambert George Washington Thomas Lambert (13 September 1873 – 29 May 1930) was an Australian artist, known principally for portrait painting and as a war artist during the First World War. Early life Lambert was born in St Petersburg, Russia, th ...

. He was also gay and consequently never married, while several of his works carried strong

homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...

overtones. In 1929, Dobell was awarded the Society of Artists' Travelling Scholarship and travelled to England to the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

where he studied under

Philip Wilson Steer Philip Wilson Steer (28 December 1860 – 18 March 1942) was a British painter of landscapes, seascapes plus portraits and figure studies. He was also an influential art teacher. His sea and landscape paintings made him a leading figure in ...

and

Henry Tonks Henry Tonks, FRCS (9 April 1862 – 8 January 1937) was a British surgeon and later draughtsman and painter of figure subjects, chiefly interiors, and a caricaturist. He became an influential art teacher. He was one of the first British arti ...

. In 1930, he won first prize for figure painting at Slade and also travelled to Poland. In 1931 he moved on to Belgium and Paris, and after 10 years in Europe returned to Australia – taking with him a new Expressionist style of painting as opposed to his earlier naturalistic approach. In 1939, he began as a part-time teacher at

East Sydney Technical College 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 ...

. After the outbreak of war, he was drafted into the Civil Construction Corps of the Allied Works Council in 1941 as a

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

painter; he later became an unofficial war artist. During his two years as a camouflage painter, he shared a tent with artist Joshua Smith. In 1944, he had his first solo exhibition including public collection loans at the inauguration of the David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney. In 1949, he visited

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 ...

as a guest of Sir

Edward Hallstrom Sir Edward John Lees Hallstrom (25 September 1886 – 27 February 1970) was one of Australia's best-known philanthropists and businessmen of the mid 20th century. Early life Born at High Park station, near Coonamble, New South Wales, Hallst ...

with writers

Frank Clune Francis Patrick Clune, OBE, (27 November 189311 March 1971) was a best-selling Australian writer, travel writer and popular historian. Early life and career Clune was born in Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney in 1893, and grew up in Redf ...

and Colin Simpson. The trip inspired a new series of tiny, brilliantly coloured landscapes. In 1950, he revisited New Guinea; on his return to Australia he continued to paint scenes of New Guinea, as well as portraits. SLNSW 127179 Sir William Dobell visiting an art class at the Newcastle Technical College Art School

SLNSW 127179 Sir William Dobell visiting an art class at the Newcastle Technical College Art School

Between 1960 and 1963 ''

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine commissioned Dobell to paint four portraits for covers, one per year, of: Sir Robert Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia; South Vietnam's President Ngô Đình Diệm; Frederick G. Donner, the Chairman of General Motors; and

Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, ‏تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...

Prime Minister of Malaysia The prime minister of Malaysia ( ms, Perdana Menteri Malaysia; ms, ڤردان منتري مليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the fed ...

. 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 James Timothy Gleeson (21 November 1915 – 20 October 2008) was an Australian artist. He served on the board of the National Gallery of Australia. Early life Gleeson was born in the Sydney district of Hornsby in 1915 and attended East Sydn ...

The Archibald Prize controversy

In 1943, Dobell's portrait of Joshua Smith, titled " Portrait of an artist", was awarded the

. This was contested in 1944 by two unsuccessful entrants (

Mary Edwell-Burke Mary Edwell-Burke (1894–1988), was an Australian painter and carver. Biography Edwell-Burke was born on 19 June 1894 in Sydney. She was the half-sister of Bernice E. Edwell. She studied at the East Sydney Technical College. In the 1920s ...

and Joseph Wolinski), who brought a lawsuit against Dobell and the Gallery's Board of Trustees in 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 ...

on the grounds that the painting was a caricature and therefore not eligible for the prize. Public opinion was sharply divided, with most viewers puzzled by the unexpected portrait. One art critic was highly laudatory: :Creating a man in the simplicity of everyday existence, Dobell reaches profundity by his understanding of this life which, at this instant, is realised and merged with his own nature. During his courtroom defense of the piece Dobell stated:

"Art fails to be Art if you fail to select for your design. All artists must do that and I did it."

The claim was dismissed and 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 The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is ...

, where he began to paint landscapes. The Supreme Court opinion by Mister Justice Roper said: : The picture in question is characterized by some startling exaggeration and distortion, clearly intended by the artist, his technique being too brilliant to admit of any other conclusion. It bears, nevertheless, a strong degree of likeness to the subject and is, I think, undoubtedly a pictorial representation of him. I find it a fact that it is a portrait within the meaning of the words in the will, and consequently the trustees did not err in admitting it to the competition.

Death and legacy

Dobell was a very private man, known almost always as "Bill". He died on 13 May 1970 in the

City of Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and ...

suburb of of

hypertensive heart disease Hypertensive heart disease includes a number of complications of high blood pressure that affect the heart. While there are several definitions of hypertensive heart disease in the medical literature, the term is most widely used in the context of ...

. The sole beneficiary of his estate was the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, which was founded on 19 January 1971 and awards the Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial, which is named in his honour. He was cremated with Anglican rites and his ashes interred at Newcastle Memorial Park in Beresfield, New South Wales. A film of Dobell's life, titled ''Yours sincerely, Bill Dobell'' was made in 1981 by Brian Adams and Cathy Shirley for the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

and the William Dobell Art Foundation. Brian Adams' book ''Portrait of an Artist – A biography of William Dobell'' was first published in 1983 by Hutchinson Publishing Group and revised in paperback in 1992 for Random House Australia. A book on the life and art of William Dobell, ''William Dobell: An Artist's Life'' by Elizabeth Donaldson, was compiled in 2010 with the support of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation and Dobell House, in Wangi Wangi. It is published by Exisle Publishing. A biography, ''Bill: The Life of William Dobell'', was published in 2014 by Scott Bevan.

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." 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, the

Queensland Art Gallery The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away. The Queensland Art Galler ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

and the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

in Canberra.

Awards

* In 1943,

for '' Mr Joshua Smith'', a portrait of the artist Joshua Smith (unsuccessfully challenged in court as being caricature rather than portraiture) * In 1948, Archibald Prize for a portrait of ''

Margaret Olley Margaret Hannah Olley (24 June 192326 July 2011) was an Australian painter. She was the subject of more than ninety solo exhibitions. Early life Margaret Olley was born in Lismore, New South Wales. She was the eldest of three children of J ...

'' * In 1948, 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 ...

for '' Storm Approaching Wangi'' * In 1959, Archibald Prize for a portrait of ''Dr E. G. MacMahon''

Honours

* Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) 1 January 1965, ''"In recognition of service to the arts as a portrait and landscape painter"'' *

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

3 June 1966, ''"In recognition of service to the arts"'' * The federal electoral

Division of Dobell The Division of Dobell is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. Dobell is a NSW Central Coast electorate with large populations of both retirees and young families fleeing Sydney's expensive real estate. The electo ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

is named after Dobell

Exhibitions

Dobell had the following 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,

, August–September * 1960 'William Dobell', War Memorial Gallery of Fine Arts, The

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

, 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 Arts * 1964 'William Dobell paintings from 1926 to 1964', Art Gallery of New South Wales, 15 July – 30 August * 1964 'William Dobell exhibitions', Bendigo Art Gallery,

Bendigo, Victoria Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...

, November * 1965 'William Dobell, first London exhibition', Commonwealth Arts Festival,

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...

Gallery, London, 16 September – 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;

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

n Museum and Art Gallery, 8 January – 1 March 98 The book ''William Dobell: An Artist's Life'' by Elizabeth Donaldson published in 2010 includes many of Dobell's works, as well as archival photographs. A biography of Dobell, ''Bill: The Life of William Dobell'', by Scott Bevan was published in 2014.

References

External links

William Dobell
at the Art Gallery of New South Wales * Brian Adams ''Portrait of an Artist'' a biography of William Dobell, Hutchinson Australia 1983.
Biography

Johhny Russell c1955
–

Ballarat Fine Art Gallery The Art Gallery of Ballarat is the oldest and largest regional art gallery in Australia. Established in 1884 as the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery by the citizens of Ballarat, both the building and part of its collection is listed on the Victorian H ...

.
William Dobell on Artabase. Sketch for Margaret Olley 1948
* Judith White
William Dobell: Yours Sincerely
, Australian Art Collector Issue 12 Apr–Jun 2000 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dobell, William 1899 births 1970 deaths Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Archibald Prize winners Gay artists City of Lake Macquarie Australian LGBT artists Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Newcastle, New South Wales Australian Knights Bachelor Wynne Prize winners 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Julian Ashton Art School alumni Australian portrait painters Australian male painters 20th-century LGBT people