Simon Tedeschi (b. 1981), award-winning classical pianist, first performed a Mozart piano concerto in the Sydney Opera House when he was nine. He has barely stopped since, performing in major concert halls, with symphony orchestras and in festivals around the world. In Australia he is a soloist with all the major symphony orchestras and has recorded acclaimed albums for ABC Classics/Universal Music. Helping to introduce a new generation of Australians to classical music, Tedeschi has appeared on the ABC television music program Spicks and Specks and has spoken candidly of his upbringing on Australian Story.
Cherry Hood is well known for her haunting, large-scale watercolours, which she allows to bleed and drip. In her sensual portrait of 20-year-old Tedeschi he is shirtless, staring directly at the viewer with piercing blue eyes. In an interview discussing her 2002 Archibald Prize win, Hood said that due to the huge scale of the painting (roughly three metres high and two metres wide), 'I was running up and down a ladder to paint. I was trying to get the colour of his eyes while I had him there.' This is one of only four portraits in the Portrait Gallery's collection to have won the Archibald Prize.
Gift of Tim Olsen 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Cherry Hood/Copyright Agency, 2022
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