Shirley Bourne Matron Vivian Bullwinkel, ARRC

Vivian Bullwinkel (1915–2000) has appeared three times in the Archibald Prize, in portraits by Graham Moore (1955), Reshid Bey (1960) and this one by Shirley Bourne, which is now in the collection of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

At the time this portrait was painted, Bullwinkel was matron of Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. During the Second World War, she served with the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and was the sole survivor of the Bangka Island Massacre in February 1942. Among the many honours she received during her lifetime was the Florence Nightingale Medal and being made an associate of the Royal Red Cross (ARRC) in 1947, a member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1973 and an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1993.