Kim Anderson on the controversial portrait in ‘The Prize’

‘The Prize’ revisits the 1943 Archibald Prize scandal, when portrait painter William Dobell was temporarily stripped of the prize for his expressionistic portrait of Joshua Smith. The Art Gallery of New South Wales trustees were taken to the Supreme Court of New South Wales by vexatious competitors Mary Edwards and Joseph Wolinski, claiming that the winning painting was a caricature, not a portrait. The fallout from the case was devastating for both Dobell and Smith who had been likely lovers in a socially conservative Sydney. In the aftermath, never met or spoke to each other again.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Kim Anderson about the tensions arising from a nation extracting itself from a culturally conservative past and embracing a modernist future, and the challenges in characterising the intimate relationship between William Dobell and Joshua Hill.

Author: Kim E. Anderson

Category: Fiction & related items

Book Format: Paperback / softback

Publisher: Pantera Press

ISBN: 9780645498547

RRP: $32.99

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Meet Your Host

Gregory Dobbs

Gregory Dobbs is a musician, producer and podcaster who likes to read books. In his spare time, he enjoys making homes for frogs, spiders, and Eastern Blue-tongued lizards. Gregory also likes looking at trees and bicycles.

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