William Alexander Dargie (Australian, 1912 – 2003)
Sir William Dargie CBE studied at the Melbourne
Technical College, and then in the studio of AD Colquhoun from 1931 to
1934. While he painted many landscapes and still-life pictures, he is
renowned for his contribution to Australian portraiture. An official war
artist during World War 2, he contributed more than six hundred works
to the Australian War Memorial. As a consciously professional
portraitist over 65 years he undertook scores of private and corporate
commissions, with subjects including the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh
and a who's who of leading Australian figures in many diverse fields -
the military, industry, sport, education and science. At the same time,
his flair for administration resulted in his appointment to a variety of
significant gallery boards and councils. Dargie won an unparalleled
eight Archibald Prizes. The National Portrait Galley currently holds
fifteen portraits by Dargie.
.jpg "Self Portrait")
.jpg "Landscape")
.jpg "Portrait of Men")
