d'Arcy William Doyle (19 November 1932 – 28 August 2001) was a painter of Australian landscapes and historical scenes.

Personal life

d'Arcy Doyle was born in

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is an urban centre within the City of Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River (Queensland), Bremer River, it is approximately 40 km (25 mi) west of the Brisbane central business district. Ipswich is ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 19 November 1932 to parents Thomas Doyle and Marguerite McGrath. The family had an Irish Catholic working-class background and his father was a railway worker.d'Arcy Doyle Art Awards - About d'Arcy Doyle
, accessed 19 July 2009 The family home was at 39 Darling Street and that house and the surrounding area are featured in many of d'Arcy's paintings. He was educated at St Mary's Primary School and St Edmunds College. From an early age he took a keen interest in drawing. As there were few opportunities for artists in Ipswich, he studied and copied the work of local sign writers. He was completely self-taught as an artist. Aged 18 years, Doyle joined the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

with some friends and served for seven years, seeing active service in the Korean War. After finishing in the navy, Doyle worked as a painter and sign writer. In 1961, he found the confidence to become an artist on a full-time basis. Doyle worked in Sydney during the 1960s. His career progressed when the Belmore Returned Services Club of Sydney commissioned him to paint a mural on the club walls. This was so popular that he received many similar commissions from other clubs. He married his wife Jennefer Taylor in Brisbane in December 1968 and they had two daughters. d'Arcy Doyle and his family returned to Queensland in 1973, purchasing a block of land in

Mudgeeraba Mudgeeraba ( ) is a town and suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Mudgeeraba had a population of 14,578 people. Mudgeeraba's essential character remains one of a nineteenth-century village. Geograp ...

on the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...

where d'Arcy lived and worked until his death at home on 28 August 2001 having battled bone cancer for a decade.Dictionary of Australian Artists Online
accessed 19 July 2009 He is buried in th
Mudgeeraba cemetery
at the

Art

Doyle has a deep affinity with the Australian bush and his work focuses on horses, sheep, drovers, and other farm activities as well as children's games and sport. Influenced by

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

, the well-known American illustrator, d'Arcy Doyle gives us a nostalgic impression of post-war

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and Ipswich as he recalls it. d'Arcy's work was very well known as he marketed many of his paintings as prints, which were very popular with the public and which were also licensed for use on calendars and biscuit tins. It was estimated that 1 in 10 Australian homes had one of his works in some form. After his death, the d'Arcy Doyle Art Awards were established to perpetuate his memory and to encourage others in creation of quintessentially Australian Art.

External links

D'arcy Doyle Memorial Gallery
* Opening of the Ipswich Mall and d'Arcy Doyle Place on 9 December 200

* Link to the artist's biograph

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle, Darcy 1932 births 2001 deaths Australian landscape artists People from Ipswich, Queensland Deaths from bone cancer Deaths from cancer in Queensland 20th-century Australian painters Australian modern painters