Graeme Inson (1923–2000), artist and teacher, was born in Cootamundra, New South Wales and educated at Canberra Grammar School. He studied art in Melbourne with Max Meldrum in the early 1940s and also worked for Meldrum as an assistant teacher, becoming a leading exponent of his mentor's theory of perception and the importance of tonal and space relations between objects. After Meldrum's death, Inson moved to Sydney and established a studio in Rowe Street. He held his first solo exhibition in 1954 and in 1955 he opened his own art school. One of the most successful 'Meldrumites', he painted landscapes and still life as well as portraits, travelling widely to paint and holding scores of solo exhibitions in Sydney into the 1990s.
Inson was commissioned for many official portraits and was twice a finalist in the Doug Moran prize. He entered 41 works in the Archibald Prize between 1952 and 1979. The National Portrait Gallery acquired his 1980 portrait of Gough Whitlam in 2002, his 1953 portrait of Brian Fitzpatrick in 2008; his 1951 portrait of Max Meldrum in 2009; and his portrait of Kevin Weldon in 2012. In 2014, the NPG acquired Inson's painting of his life partner, the artist Ivy Shore.
