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Arthur Boyd AC OBE (1920-99), painter, potter and printmaker, was amongst Australia's greatest painters. Although he is better known for his landscapes and mythical subjects, and produced relatively few portraits, Boyd made a number of paintings of family and friends, all imbued with his interest in deep human truths. The son of artists, Boyd began making paintings as a boy and developed a vigorous and expressive style. During the Second World War he made paintings depicting a grotesque and unbalanced world; several paintings inspired by early Flemish painters combined religious subjects with current events. In the 1960s, based mainly in England, Boyd embarked on ambitious cycles of paintings based on Biblical and mythological themes. Returning to Australia in the early 1970s, he began a relationship with the landscape of the Shoalhaven River on the south coast of New South Wales. He bought a property there, Bundanon, which he subsequently gave to the Australian people. This was his second great act of public generosity; in 1975 he made an immense gift of his own work to the National Gallery of Australia.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Accession number: 2004.86
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Patrick Corrigan AM (123 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.
Patrick McCaughey explores a striking Boyd self portrait.
Portraits of philanthropists in the collection honour their contributions to Australia and acknowledge their support of the National Portrait Gallery.
Works by Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan bring the desert, the misty seashore and the hot Monaro plains to exhibition Open Air: Portraits in the landscape.