W B McInnes Dr Hamilton

This portrait by WB McInnnes depicts physician Henry Talbot Hamilton (1878–1945), who had treated the artist in 1919 during the global influenza epidemic, three years before this work was painted.

In 1915, Hamilton had enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and served with the 7th Field Ambulance in Egypt and France during the First World War. Following the effects of a chlorine gas attack, he was discharged from the army in 1917. Returning to Australia, Hamilton set up a medical practice in the Melbourne suburb of Clifton Hill, not far from the McInnes home in Alphington.

Hamilton’s godfather, who supported him through his medical studies at Melbourne University, was the entrepreneur and art collector Andrew Felton (1831–1904), now best known for establishing the Felton Bequest philanthropic trust to support culture and the community.