Sir William Dobell, OBE (24
September 1899 - 13 May 1970)
was an Australian artist (sculptor and painter). The Electoral Division of Dobell is named after him.
Early years and training
William Dobell was born in Cooks Hill, a working class neighbourhood of Newcastle, New South Wales. 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 Julian Ashton's School and was influenced by George
Lambert.
In 1929, Dobell was awarded the Society of Artists' Travelling Scholarship and travelled to England to the Slade School where he studied under Wilson Steer, Henry Tonks and William
Orpen.
In 1930, Dobell won first prize for figure painting at Slade and also travelled to Poland. In
1931 Dobell travelled to Belgium and Paris, and
after 10 years in Europe returned to Australia.
Work
In 1939, he began as a part-time teacher at East Sydney Technical College. In 1941 Dobell was
drafted into the Civil Construction Corps of the Allied Works Council as a camouflage
painter; he later became an unofficial war artist. In 1944, Dobell 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 as a guest of Sir Edward
Hallstrom with writers Frank Clame and Colin
Simpson. The trip inspired a new series of tiny, brilliantly coloured landscapes. In 1950, he revisited New Guinea and on
his return to Wangi he continued to paint scenes of New Guinea, as well as portraits.
Between 1960 and 1963 TIME magazine commissioned Dobell to paint four
portraits for covers, one per year, of: Rt. Hon. Robert Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia; South Vietnam's
President Ngo Dinh Diem; Frederick G. Donner, the Chairman
of General Motors; and Tunku Abdul Rahman,
Prime Minister of Malaysia.
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.
Prizes and honours
In 1943, Dobell's work of Joshua Smith "Portrait of an artist" was awarded the Archibald
Prize. This was contested in 1944 by two unsuccessful artists who brought a lawsuit against Dobell and the Gallery's Board
of Trustees in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. 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,
where he began to paint landscapes. Dobell did not like fame and it nearly destroyed him.
In 1948, Dobell entered "Margaret Olley" in the Archibald and won; he also won the Wynne
prize for "Storm approaching Wangi".
In 1959, Dobell again won the Archibald for "Dr E. G. MacMahon".
Dobell was awarded an Order of the British Empire in 1965 and was
Knighted in 1966.
Legacy Bruhh
He died in 1970 at Wangi. Dobell was homosexual and transexual, never married and on 19
January, 1971 The Sir William Dobell Art Foundation was formed as the sole beneficiary of
the artist's estate.
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."
This and successful portrait artist.
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, and the National Gallery of Australia in
Canberra.
Exhibitions
The following are Dobell's 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, Brisbane, August-September
- 1960 'William Dobell', War Memorial Gallery of Fine Arts, The University of
Sydney, 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 1926-1964', Art Gallery of New South Wales, 15 July-30 August
- 1964 'William Dobell exhibitions', Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria, November
- 1965 'William Dobell, first London exhibition', Commonwealth Arts Festival, Qantas Gallery,
London, 16 Sept.-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; Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 8 January-1 March 98
See also
External link
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