FRIEND, DONALD (1915-1989)

"Study For Vagabond Scholars" (c.1985)
ink
cm
Signed lower right
*exhibited at Australian Galleries, 1988
*private Collection, Sydney
 
Friend is a famous Australian painter. He studied under Sydney Long & Dattilo Rubbo, then in London in the late 1930s. He began his professional career as a World War II artist. On returning to Australia in the mid 1940s, he befriended a contemporary, Russell Drysdale, with whom he helped establish the well known artist colony in Hill End, NSW. At the time, Friend's critical reputation was the equal of Drysdale and William Dobell, winning the Blake Prize For Religious Art in 1955. In the 1960s, he relocated to Bali, Indonesia, where he produced his most famous paintings, of local people and landscapes. He authored and illustrated countless books, which became significant manuscripts of the history of Australian Art of the period, tracing the careers of fellow painters and close friends, Margaret Olley, Brett Whiteley, Jeffrey Smart and many others. Friend exhibited widely and is represented in the National Gallery Collection, Canberra, in all state and most major public collections in Australia.