William 'Wim' Boissevain (born 23 July 1927) is an Australian painter of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

extraction born Willem Geoffrey Boissevain in New York, son of Gideon Walrave 'Gi' Boissevain who was in the Dutch diplomatic service. He studied at the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

, London and the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Science ...

, Paris. He arrived in Australia in 1947, became

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

in 1949, and has established a studio at Glen Forrest in the

Darling Range The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to th ...

near

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. From 1951 to 1955 he taught drawing and French at

Wesley College, Perth Wesley College, informally known as Wesley, is an independent, day and boarding school for boys and girls (co-ed to Year 6 and boys only Years 7–12), situated in South Perth, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The college is a Uniting ...

, later at

Perth Technical College Central Institute of Technology was a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institution based in Perth, Western Australia until 2016 when it became a part of North Metropolitan TAFE. It was the equal oldest post-secondary educational institution ...

. His portrait of the art dealer and benefactor Claude Hotchin was an entry in the 1957

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 ...

. Since 1964, he has held exhibitions in many major galleries in Perth (commencing with the Skinner Gallery) and Sydney. His paintings are avidly sought by collectors. His portrait of Sir

James Alexander Forrest Sir James Alexander Forrest (born in Kerang, Victoria on 10 March 190 – deceased on 26 September 1990 in Malvern, Victoria) was an Australian lawyer, businessman and philanthropist. Biography Family James Alexander Forrest was the third ...

is held in the National Portrait Gallery in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. His first wife Rhoda Elsie Boissevain (born 27 July 1918), also a fine portrait painter, was runner-up in the Rubinstein Prize for portraiture 1960. She also taught at Perth Technical College in the 1960s. The

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

holds her portrait of

Katharine Susannah Prichard Katharine Susannah Prichard (4 December 18832 October 1969) was an Australian author and co-founding member of the Communist Party of Australia. Early life Prichard was born in Levuka, Fiji in 1883 to Australian parents. She spent her childhoo ...

, completed ca. 1955.

Awards

* Rubinstein Prize for portraiture 1956 * Claude Hotchin Art Prize, 1959 * Perth Prize for Drawing International, Perth, Western Australia, 1971 * He was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1978 for his services to the advancement of art."It's an Honour" website
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Bibliography

* * * Addenbrooke, Maureen (illustrations by Wim Boissevain) ''Killing Cats and Karma'' Artlook Books Perth, W.A. 1983

References

Sources

McCulloch, Alan ''Encyclopedia of Australian Art'' Hutchinson of London 1968 {{DEFAULTSORT:Boissevain, William 1927 births Australian painters Living people