Nora Heysen
(Australia 11 Jan 1911–30 Dec 2003)
Self portrait
- Location
- 20th & 21st c Australian art
- Further information
I painted that self-portrait in my father’s studio – on the walls were several Vermeer prints. I greatly admired Vermeer’s works and wanted to paint like him – perhaps Vermeer and my father were my biggest influences in those days …
Nora Heysen, 1970s
Nora Heysen’s self-portrait strongly articulates her identity and ambition as a young artist, independent of her famous artist-father Hans Heysen. Characteristic of her 1930s’ paintings, 'Self portrait' is powerfully composed with precise, strongly defined forms and earthy colours recalling European masters of the early Renaissance. After undertaking study in Europe, Heysen established herself as a distinguished portrait and still-life painter. In 1938 she won the Archibald Prize, the first woman to have done so.
- Year
- 1932
- Media
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 76.2 x 61.2cm stretcher; 96.2 x 81.0 x 5.0cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.r. corner, red oil "NORA HEYSEN. 1932.".
- Credit
- Gift of Howard Hinton 1932
- Accession number
- 943
- Copyright
- © Lou Klepac
