Manning Clark AC (1915-1991) is Australia's best-known historian. He lectured at the University of Melbourne from 1944 to 1949, when he left to become Foundation Professor of History at Canberra University College. This institution became the Australian National University, where Clark was Professor and Head of the History department and later first Professor of Australian History. He left ANU in 1975. In 1981, while still at work on his monumental, controversial, six-volume A History of Australia (1962-87), he was named Australian of the Year. In his autobiographical books The Puzzles of Childhood and The Quest for Grace, published around the time this woodcut was made, Clark wrote that he had 'learned that Australia did not have to belong to the tough; that Australia could and should belong to the lovers and believers.'
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
© Rick Amor/Copyright Agency, 2021
Rick Amor (20 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.
Australian author David Malouf discusses the creation of his portrait by artist Rick Amor.
Artist Rick Amor and author Shane Maloney relate divergent experiences of the creation of Shane's portrait.
