Russell Drysdale, 1960

Sir Russell Drysdale AC (1912-1981), painter, went to art school in his twenties, having first endured a series of operations on his eyes. After studying art in London and Paris in the 1930s, he returned to Australia. Over the course of the 1940s he produced a series of melancholy, foreboding works - including The rabbiters, West Wyalong, The drover's wife, Sofala and The cricketers. Some of the best-known images in Australian art, these not only laid down the terms of reference for most subsequent depictions of the landscape, but came to be seen as key representations of the Australian spiritual condition. In 1962 Drysdale’s son took his own life; Drysdale’s wife, inconsolable, did the same in 1963. In 1964 Drysdale and his second wife, Maisie, a lifelong friend, built a house in the Bouddi National Park, not far from Tallow Beach. A period of stability followed, and Drysdale was able to produce a further body of significant work over the next fifteen years.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
© Rex Dupain and the Estate of Max Dupain