We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands.

Winner: Archibald Prize 1937

Normand Baker Self-portrait

oil on canvas

102 x 74.6 cm

When Normand Baker won the Archibald Prize with this painting, he was still relatively unknown, although the Art Gallery of NSW had already purchased two of his earlier works. Coverage in the daily papers centred on the fact that Baker was the son of a confectioner and worked as a commercial artist. The painting was donated to the Gallery by the artist’s mother, Millicent Pearl Baker, in 1956.