Sir William Dobell

Sir William Dobell (1899-1970), Australian painter, best known for his portraits. Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Dobell studied painting in Sydney. In 1929 he won a scholarship enabling him to attend the Slade School of Art in London and went on to study in the Netherlands. For the next few years he remained in Europe, and some of his pictures were accepted by the Royal Academy, London, for exhibition.

Following his return to Australia in 1939 Dobell was appointed an official war artist during World War II (1939-1945). Some of his most famous portraits, including The Billy Boy (1943), date from this period. In 1944 his portrait of a colleague, Joshua Smith, won a major prize and provoked enormous controversy. Critics called the picture a caricature and contested the award in court. Dobell won the lawsuit and as a result became widely known throughout Australia.

Dobell traveled to New Guinea in 1949 and 1950, and for years afterward he painted the subjects he had observed there. In the 1950s and 1960s Dobell's reputation became established and he received many commissions and won a number of awards. Outstanding portraits from this period include those of Australian poet Dame Mary Gilmore (painted 1957) and several of American businesswoman Helena Rubinstein (painted 1957, 1960, and later). In July 1964 a major retrospective exhibition, bringing together 224 of Dobell's pictures from all parts of the world, was held in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, in Sydney.