Sir William Dobell - Early years and training

Portrait painter, born in Newcastle, New South Wales, SE Australia. He studied at the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney, and at the Slade School of Art, London. Returning to Sydney, he worked during World War 2 in a camouflage unit with other artists. His controversial portrait of Joshua Smith won the Archibald Prize in 1944. Later work included a portrait of the then prime minister of Australia, Sir Robert Menzies. He left all his estate to establish the art foundation which bears his name.

Sir William Dobell (24 September 1899 - 13 May 1970) was an Australian artist (sculptor and painter).

Early years and training

William Dobell was born in Cooks Hill, a working class neighbourhood of Newcastle, New South Wales.

Dobell's artistic talents were evident early.

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 1944, Dobell had his first solo exhibition including public collection loans at the inauguration of the David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney.

Between 1960 and 1963 TIME magazine commissioned Dobell to paint four portraits for covers, one per year, of: Rt.

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.

In 1948, Dobell entered "Margaret Olley" in the Archibald and won;

In 1959, Dobell again won the Archibald for "Dr E.

Dobell was awarded an Order of the British Empire in 1965 and was Knighted in 1966. On 19 January 1971 The Sir William Dobell Art Foundation was formed and became 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.

What typifies Dobell's work is the elongation or dramaticisation of features of his models or the landscape.

Dobell was capable of displaying crisp objectiveness one moment and fleshy satire which reflected a subjective, somewhat darker view of the world the next.

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 the 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. 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;