Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 1 : Presscuttings, 1959-1962

Oar Portrait Prise well wins £1500 award DEICING OF ENTRIES. Judges of oar Foursit Fries are the Directors of the National Art Galleries is the capital althea. Above, inspecting one sd the entries, they ore, from left, Mr. Robert Campbell, of Adelaide, Dr. W. Dryden, of Hobart, Mr. Hal Misairsehain, o/ Sydney, Mr. Robert Haines, o/ Brisbane, and Mr. Eric Westbrook, of Melbourne. Thnns ware only Jim Pages dill year, because a new director has not yet been appointed at the Art Gallery of Western Amu I . Czechoslovakian artist gains £500 prize for the best painting by a woman The winners of The Australian Women's Weekly Por- trait Prize, 1957, are William Dobell, of Wangi, N.S.W., and Vilma Kotrbova-Vrbova, of Czechoslovakia -the first overseas artist to win one of our awards. DOBELL, winner of two Archibald Prizes and one Wynne Prize, was awarded the main prize of £1500 for the best entry in the competition with his portrait of Helena Rubin- stein, who recently visited Australia. Vilma RotrbovaWhose, with her portrait colitled "Eva With Draw*: bar woe the seated award of £500 for the best entry by a The presentation of the prizemoney to William Dobell will be made at the National Art Gallery in Sydney on September 25. Vilma Kotrbova - VrIstini will receive her cheque in a letter informing her of her win. The Czechoslovakian artist has held three exhibitions in Prague in 1951, 1952, and 1953. The Ministry of Education bought one of the paintings exhibited in 1952-"Child With a Cake." Our two winning portraits were among 10 from which the judges made their final selection. ['he rim:tilting eight .t re: "Lovely Doris," by James Boswell (England). "Robbie," by William Dobell. "Kate Hodgkinson," by Frank Hodgkinson (N.S.W.). "Woman and Girl," by Michael Kmit (N.S.W.). "Artist's Wife," by Vladaa Meskenas "Janet Mathews," by Jon Molvig (Queensland). "Ragana," by John Rigby (Queenslander at present studying in Italy); and Fifty paintings have been selected to hang in our travelling exhibition of entries in the 1957 Pcirtnit Prize. A further 88 will be hung in Sydney only. Both exhi- bitions will be opened at the National Art Gallery in Sydney by the Governor of N.S.W., Lientenant-General E. W. Woodward, at 3.15 p.m. on September 25. They will continue for a went'. The travelling exhibition will then tour all Australian capital cities, includ- ing Canberra. In Sydney, the National Art Gallery will be open until October 1 from 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m., Mopdays to Saturdays, and from 2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. on Sundays. From October 1 the Gallery will remain open a further half hour unto 5 p.m. on week -days and Sundays. TIM AUSTRALIAN WOMENS WEEKLy - October 2, 1957 "Australian Girl in Paris," by Albert Tucker (Australian living in England). In their report, the judges said that all of these 10 paintings were "good enough to take their place in any ex- hibition of fine modern paint- ings." Of the Dobell painting, the judges said, "It is not only outstanding among the entries but is an important work of art in its own right. It has a power and authority which no other entry can approach. "The painting has, in great measure, all the qualities that have made Dobell famous. The composition is built up of a typically Dobell diamond - shape, which he has used in many of his greatest paint- ings. "The artist has had a clear idea of the effect at which he is aiming. Many of the other competitors seem to have em- barked on their pictures with the hope that something would emerge, but with no clear onception of what it would be. "While the judges feel that the picture could not have been painted in any other century than our own, it did not seem to them to seek fashionable 'modernism.' "In many entries it was painfully obvious that pictures were conceived as a traditional likeness and then superficial forms and colors added to flesh and background, ap- parently in the hope of attracting a judge with 'modern' sympathies. "Finally, in the winning work the likeness of the sitter seems to be admirably ex- pressed. The whole of the strong personality emerges. "In the opinion of the judges this is an excellent portrait; only the opinion of posterity can decide if it is a great one." Commenting on their award to t h e Czechoslovakian artist, the judges maids "We selected this painting for its sensitiveness without sentimentality and for its com- petent handling, which did not become slick. "The portrait is extremely simple in its color and com- position. The feeling of the youthfulness of the subject is extremely well conveyed, and the whole idea of the child is linked well with the little drawing. "In the case of both prize- winners, the pictures have been so designed that the whole of the attention finally is focused on the faces. "In all portrait paintings, no matter how many items are used in the composition, the essential point of focus is the face." Commenting on the fact that 50 paintings have been hung in the travelling exhibi- tion this year, they said that "judged by the highest stand- ards they could not (as re- quested by The Australian Women's Weekly) extract 50 works for the travelling exhi- bition. "Finally, a selection was made of the 40 best Australian works and the 10 best paint- ings from overseas. "It should be pointed out that in the overseas group are certain paintings which fall below the Australian stan- dard." William Dobell's award in our Portrait Prize this year is his fourth major art win in Australia. 154 WILLIAM °ODELL, winner of oar main award Ale year, IS probably Australia's bets --known painter. His *Mares have ceased nationadde consrowersies. He won the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Joshua Smith in 1944, and again in 1948 with his portrait of Mar- garet 011ey. In the same year he also won the Wynne Prize. His first £500 Archibald win brought him nation-wide publicity, and resulted in one of the biggest controversies in Australian art circles. Two Sydney artists chal- lenged his win on the grounds that the picture of Joshua Smith was a caricature and not a portrait. Mr. Justice Roper, sitting in the Equity Court, upheld the award of the prize. Dawn hit the headlines again in 1942 and 1955. In 1942 one of his pictures -"Study for a Woman Dot- ing"-was stolen from the National Art Gallery in Syd- ney. It has never been re- covered. In 1955 another picture- "The Milliner"- was also stolen from the Gallery, but later was returned by post wrapped in newspaper. Dobell, himself, keeps out of the limelight as much as possible. He lives quietly with his sister at Wangi. Overleaf, pain t- inge in color. Page 7