Harry Seidler AC OBE (1923–2006), architect and designer, was born in Vienna and studied under Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer at the Harvard School of Design. He worked with Alvar Aalto in Massachusetts, with Breuer in his New York practice and with Oscar Niemeyer in Rio de Janeiro before travelling in Sydney in 1948 to design a house for his parents in Turramurra. Now known as the Rose Seidler House, it caused a sensation and introduced Bauhaus principles to Australia. Soon commissioned to design houses for other clients, Seidler made a significant contribution to the architecture of Sydney, particularly in his Australia Square buildings (1961–1967), the MLC Centre (1972–1978) and Grosvenor Place (1982–1988). He also designed major projects around Australia and internationally, including the critically acclaimed Australian Embassy in Paris (1973–1977) overlooking the Eiffel Tower. Among his multitudinous awards are the RAIA Gold Medal (1976) and the Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal (1996). He received Australia's highest honour, the Companion of the Order of Australia, in 1987.
Louis Kahan’s drawing of Seidler is part of a group of unique and arresting composite portraits of Australian public figures in the 1960s and 1970s. Kahan often drew them at home as he watched them talking on television programs like This Day Tonight.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
© Louis Kahan/Copyright Agency, 2021
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