Title
Dame Mary Gilmore
1957
Artist
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Details
- Date
- 1957
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on hardboard
- Dimensions
- 90.2 x 73.7 cm board; 105.1 x 88.6 x 6.5 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed l.r. corner, orange oil "DOBELL". Not dated.
- Credit
- Gift of Dame Mary Gilmore 1960
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- OA28.1960
- Copyright
- © Courtesy Sir William Dobell Art Foundation
- Archibald Prize
- - 1957
- Artist information
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William Dobell
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
"I want to say how proud I am that you want to make a sketch of me. You are the only painter we have, perhaps the only one we ever had, whose work has its ghosts behind it ..."
- Dame Mary Gilmore 1943"The painting is far more important than the sitter. This painting will still be carrying my identity when my own work is forgotten."
- Dame Mary Gilmore 1957Dame Mary Gilmore (1865-1962) was a distinguished humanitarian, poet, left-wing political activist and social reformer, who became part of a network of writers and artists, including Dobell, who lived in Kings Cross, Sydney following the war. This portrait, typically developed through many sketches and studies, is perhaps the most profound of his many commissioned portraits during the last years of his life.
Australian Art Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2000
This work was a finalist in the 1957 Archibald Prize and was acquired by the Gallery in 1960.
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Exhibition history
Shown in 12 exhibitions
The art of William Dobell (1959), Finney's Art Gallery, Brisbane, 11 Aug 1959–11 Sep 1959
Contemporary Australian art (1960), Charles Birks & Co., , 14 Mar 1960 -
Purchases and Acquisitions for 1960, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Mar 1961–23 Apr 1961
William Dobell: Paintings from 1926 - 1964 (1964), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Jul 1964–30 Aug 1964
Twentieth century Australian masterworks from the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Fred Williams Pilbara series from the collection of CRA Limited, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, , 04 Oct 1985–06 Nov 1985
Uncommon Australians: Towards an Australian Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne, 06 May 1992–28 Jun 1992
Uncommon Australians: Towards an Australian Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 10 Jul 1992–09 Aug 1992
Uncommon Australians: Towards an Australian Portrait Gallery, Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane, 25 Aug 1992–20 Sep 1992
Uncommon Australians: Towards an Australian Portrait Gallery, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Oct 1992–22 Nov 1992
Uncommon Australians: Towards an Australian Portrait Gallery, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 03 Dec 1992–31 Jan 1993
William Dobell the painter's progress (1997-1998), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 14 Feb 1997–27 Apr 1997
William Dobell the painter's progress (1997-1998), Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, 07 May 1997–06 Jul 1997
William Dobell the painter's progress (1997-1998), Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Melbourne, 29 Jul 1997–21 Sep 1997
William Dobell the painter's progress (1997-1998), Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane, 25 Oct 1997–07 Dec 1997
William Dobell the painter's progress (1997-1998), Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, 08 Jan 1998–01 Mar 1998
The possibilities of Portraiture, National Portrait Gallery [Old Parliament House], Canberra, 04 Mar 1999–20 Jun 1999
Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000
(Focus on William Dobell's 'Dame Mary Gilmore'), Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane, 17 Jun 2002–02 Oct 2002
Kings Cross - Bohemian Sydney, Elizabeth Bay House, Elizabeth Bay, 31 May 2003–21 Sep 2003
Discovering Dobell, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville, 27 May 2017–13 Aug 2017
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Bibliography
Referenced in 38 publications
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Tony Bonyhady, The Australian's Review of Books, 'With heads held high', pg. 14-16, Sydney, Jun 1999, 15 (colour illus.).
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Kym Bonython, Ross K Luck, Laurie Thomas and Elwyn Lynn, Modern Australian painting, 1950/1975, Adelaide, 1980, frontispiece (colour illus.).
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Edmund Capon AM, OBE and Jan Meek (Editors), Portrait of a Gallery, 'Australian 20th Century Art', pg. 71-89, Sydney, 1984, 77 (colour illus.), 76.
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Yve Close, Joshua Smith: artist 1905-1995, 'Art works and anecdotes', pg. 71-88, New South Wales, 1998, 83.
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Rebecca Corbell, The Possibilities of Portraiture, "Introduction", pg. 5-6, Canberra, 1999, 7 (colour illus.).
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Our Art Critic., The Sydney Morning Herald, 'The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Art Prizes', Sydney, 12 Dec 1957, page unknown. Archibald Prize review.
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the "Mirror" art critic'., Daily Mirror, 'Painters and paintings, Sydney, 12 Dec 1957, page unknown. Archibald Prize review.
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Prue Davidson, William Dobell - the painter's progress, 'The later years', pg. 110-133, Sydney, 1997, 74, 110, 114, 115 (colour illus.), 144. cat.no. 39a
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Elizabeth Donaldson and Robert Donaldson, William Dobell: his life, art and home, 'Life at Wangi', pg. 75-97, New South Wales, 2011, 77, 78 (illus., detail), 79, 94 (colour illus.), 134. NOTE: Photograph on page 78 has Dame Mary Gilmore standing infront of Dobell's portrait.
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Elizabeth Donaldson, William Dobell: an artist's life, 'Life at Wangi', pg. 127-172, New South Wales, 2010, 66, 69, 132, 133 (colour illus.), 134 (illus.), 135, 195 (colour illus.). NOTE: Photograph on page 34 has Dame Mary Gilmore standing infront of Dobell's portrait.
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Geoffrey Dutton., Bulletin, 'Artbursts: Archibald and Wynne', Sydney, 18 Dec 1957, page unknown. Archibald Prize review.
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Mary Eagle, A tribute to William Dobell, 'The strength of life', pg. 10-41, Canberra, 1999, 14, 17.
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Julian Faigan, Uncommon Australians: towards an Australian portrait gallery, Sydney, 1992, 95 (colour illus.).
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James Gleeson., Sun, 'Art's "anemia": Prize "not to best portrait"', Sydney, 12 Dec 1957, page unknown. Archibald Prize review.
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James Gleeson, The drawings of William Dobell in the Australian National Gallery, 'The draughtsman as artist', pg. 6-17, Canberra, 1992, 10, 13.
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Anne Gray, Face: Australian portraits 1880-1960, 'Face: Australian portraits 1880-1960', pg. 15-41, Canberra, 2010, 20, 21 (colour illus.).
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Peter Haynes (Compilator), Famous people: a selective who's who from works in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1981, 6 (illus.).
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Geoff Hocking, Currency lads & lasses: behind the faces on Australian banknotes, 'Dame Mary Gilmore', pg. 188-193, South Melbourne, 2004, 192 (colour illus.).
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Shireen Huda, Pedigree and panache: a history of the art auction in Australia, 'Chapter 4. Australian Art at auction: the 1960s market', pg. 55-77, Canberra, 2008, 62.
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John Kelly, Art Monthly Australia, 'William Dobell: An artist's life', pg. 44-45, Canberra, Nov 2010, 45 (colour illus.). Review of Elizabeth Donaldson book on Dobell.
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Joan Kerr, A singular voice: essays on Australian art and architecture, 'The possibilities of a National Portrait Gallery, 1999', pg. 75-81, Sydney, 2009, 77 (illus.).
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Joan Kerr, Art Monthly Australia, 'The possibilities of a National Portrait gallery', pg. 2-8, Canberra, Apr 1999, 7 (illus.), 8.
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Catherine Magree (Editor), Australian readers: discovering democracy, 'Family comes first', pg. 56, Carlton South, 2002, 57 (colour illus.). Upper Secondary school text book. Includes the poem 'Nationality' by Dame Mary Gilmore.
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Ewen McDonald, AGNSW Collections, 'From Colonialism to late Modernism', pg. 7-106, Sydney, 1994, 48, 49 (colour illus.).
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Hal Missingham, William Dobell, Brisbane, 1959. cat.no. 64; Late Inclusions: The portrait was commissioned by the Australian Book Society on the occasion of Dame Mary's 90th birthday, 16/8/55. It is kindly lent by the Society
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Hal Missingham, Art Gallery of New South Wales Quarterly, 'Acquisitions for 1960', pg. 58-67, Sydney, Apr 1961, 58, 60 (illus.), 61.
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New South Wales Department of School Education, Touchdown School Magazine, Sydney, Jul 1994, (illus.).
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Desmond O'Shaughnessy, Art and medicine: reminiscences & reflections of a retiring surgeon, 'Postlude', pg. 79-87, Melbourne, 1999, 87.
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Barry Pearce, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian', pg. 13-35, Sydney, 1988, 26, 27 (illus.).
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Barry Pearce and Patrick McCaughey, Twentieth century Australian masterworks from the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Fred Williams Pilbara Series, Tokyo, 1985, 31 (colour illus.). cat.no. 14
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Robert Raymond, 52 views of Rudy Komon, Sydney, 1999, 46 (illus.). NOTE: There is a black and white photograph of Rudy Komon and Dame Mary Gilmore infront of this painting.
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Peter Ross, Let's face it: the history of the Archibald Prize, 'The Postwar Years', pg. 40-62, Sydney, 1999, 51 (colour illus.).
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William Splatt and Barbara Burton, 100 masterpieces of Australian painting, Adelaide, 1973, 178, 179 (colour illus.). plate no. 86
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Laurie Thomas, Modern Australian painting and sculpture: a survey of Australian art from 1950-1960, Adelaide, 1960, 35 (colour illus.).
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Judith White, art lovers: the story of the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales 1953-2013, 'Chapter 2: After the Ball1960-1972', pp. 41-64, Sydney, 2013, 6 (illus.), 42.
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Judith White, Australian art collector, 'Yours sincerely: William Dobell', pg. 56-59, Sydney, Apr 2000-Jun 2000, 58 (colour illus.), 59.
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Author Unknown, William Dobell: the painters progress, Sydney, 1997, (illus.).
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Unknown (Editor), Sun, 'Hele wins again: this year's Archibald', Sydney, 11 Dec 1957, page unknown. Archibald Prize review.
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