Marilyn Darling AC (b. 1943) is a Founding Patron of the National Portrait Gallery. Born in Brisbane, she studied science at the University of Queensland before working in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Melbourne, and undertaking postgraduate study in the Medical School of Monash University from 1973 to 1978. Though she worked as a scientist, her interests expanded to a variety of social and cultural concerns, including the Victorian Children's Aid Society, the Dame Joan Hammond Award, Spoleto Melbourne (the precursor of the Melbourne Festival) and the Victorian State Opera. By the mid-1980s she was a major patron of art, music and health. In 1989 she married L Gordon Darling AC CMG (1921–2015), whose ambition to create a National Portrait Gallery in Australia soon became the couple's joint project. Having sought advice from the directors of the National Portrait Galleries in London and Washington DC, they convened the exhibition Uncommon Australians: Towards an Australian Portrait Gallery 'to show people in various parts of the country a sample of what a National Portrait Gallery would do for Australia.' The exhibition toured nationally in 1992–1993 and proved the impetus for the institution's foundation. Marilyn Darling was Chair of the Board of the Gallery from 2000 until 2008, and under her leadership the institution grew from a small gallery located in Old Parliament House and reliant on artworks loaned from other collections, to a significant national institution housed in a dedicated building and with a growing collection of its own. Marilyn Darling is the Chair of the Gordon Darling Foundation, Melbourne, and a member of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia Foundation.
Since 1998 she has funded the acquisition of many works for the collection, including some of the Gallery's most innovative commissioned portraits. These include Ah Xian’s glazed ceramic bust of Dr John Yu (2004); Brook Andrew's monumental screenprint collage of Professor Marcia Langton (2009); and the Victorian Tapestry Workshop's portrait of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch (2000). When it came to having her own portrait taken, Darling recollected in 2015 that she 'hadn't really given any thought to what I would want. I was always thinking about other portraits.' In keeping with Mrs Darling's wish that the portrait should show the National Portrait Gallery building, Anne Zahalka photographed her in the light-filled entry hall named for her husband. The sculpture in the left background – James Angus' Geo face distributor (2009) – is among the many acquisitions enabled by the Darlings; to the sitter's right is an example of the floral arrangements that always feature in the Gordon Darling Hall, and which have been funded by Mrs Darling since the new National Portrait Gallery building opened in 2008.
Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2010
© Anne Zahalka
Marilyn Darling, philanthropist and Founding Patron of the National Portrait Gallery, standing inside the Gallery’s entry. The portrait is by Anne Zahalka created in 2010. It is a colour, photographic transparency presented in a backlit light box, with a glossy black frame, measuring 119cm tall by 82cm wide.
An elegant woman in her middle years in a knee-length apricot dress, heels and gold accessories. Marilyn Darling stands slightly left of centre, in the foreground, front on. The sunshine streaming in behind her creating a halo in her short, wavy, platinum blond hair.
Marilyn’s face is tanned, her grey-blue eyes look straight towards us. Her vibrant coral coloured lips are upturned in a closed-mouth smile. ¬
She wears gold hoop earrings, and a chunky bone and gold necklace made up of curving segments linked together, and it rests in a tight, flat ring on her collar bone. The necklace is framed by the collar of her apricot dress. Just beneath the collar, on the right, glints a small gold pin.
Marilyn’s bare arms are folded across her waist. On her left hand is a gold and diamond ring, and on her wrist, a slim gold watch. Her short nails are painted the same coral as her lips.
Marilyn’s dress is knee-length and her slender legs are golden. She centres her weight on her left leg, while her right leg extends out slightly to the side, both feet facing forward. She wears cream, peep-toe high-heels, and her toenails are lacquered with coral polish.
Diagonal shadows are cast by her legs, across the foyer floor, veering to the right lower corner of the portrait.
On Marilyn Darling’s right, inside the gallery doors is a substantial bouquet of brightly coloured Australian native flowers, in magenta, yellow and cream amidst grey-green foliage. The flowers spring from a stainless-steel cylindrical vessel, resting on a waist high, rectangular concrete plinth.
Further on, there is an abundance of architectural detail, she stands just inside the doors. Triangular, pale timber at ceiling height, a line of round air conditioning vents above head height, and thin wooden vertical struts running down over glass to meet the foyer floor. The floor is pale grey stone, glistening with reflected light.
Beyond the doors, the forecourt is flooded with bright white sunshine, and on our left is a large, bright orange sculpture. Past the sculpture is blurred greenery.
Audio description written by Lucie Shawcross and voiced by Rory Walker
Tim Fairfax AC (53 portraits supported)
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.
Marilyn Darling talks about the creation of her portrait, and the photographic process.
Portraits of philanthropists in the collection honour their contributions to Australia and acknowledge their support of the National Portrait Gallery.
