Graeme Murphy AM (b. 1950), choreographer, was the youngest male dancer to be accepted into the Australian Ballet school, and commenced with the Australian Ballet at the age of 18. He was appointed artistic director of the Sydney Dance Company (then known as The Dance Company NSW) in 1976. Since then he has created an extraordinary repertoire of thirty full evening productions and a variety of short works. His most popular piece is perhaps Poppy, a full-length ballet based on the life of Jean Cocteau, in which he danced the title role 4 years after announcing his retirement. Since 1984 he has directed several spectacular operas, and choreographed many pieces for the ice-skating duo Torvill and Dean. He was named a living treasure in 1999, and in 2001 he was presented with the Helpmann Award for his Body of Work, a selection of highlights from his repertoire.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Accession number: 2002.17
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Lewis Morley (49 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. The Companion is available to buy online and in the Portrait Gallery Store.
Sam Bowker examines Paula Dawson's Mirror, Mirror - a holographic portrait of Graeme Murphy.
Magda Keaney speaks with Lewis Morley about his photographic career and the major retrospective of his work on display at the NPG.
Drawn from some of the many donations made to the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Portraits for Posterity pays homage both to the remarkable (and varied) group of Australians who are portrayed in the portraits and the generosity of the many donors who have presented them to the Gallery.
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