Database

Sir William Dobell (1899–1970) was an acclaimed painter known for his expressive and vivid portraits. He was an apprentice to an architect and studied in Sydney before leaving for Europe in 1929. In Europe he studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London under Henry Tonks and Philip Wilson. He paid close attention and studied works by Rembrandt, Renoir, Turner, Constable, Van Gogh and Ingres. During his time in London he developed a close friendship with the Australian artist Donald Friend. In 1939 Dobell returned to Sydney after the passing of his father. After his return to Sydney he worked on a series of Australian ‘types’ that exuded the characteristics of the European tradition her had observed in London. He was conscripted in 1941 and served as an official war artist, documenting the efforts of the Civil Construction Corps. In 1942 Dobell shared an exhibition with Margaret Preston at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In 1954 Dobell represented Australia at the Venice Biennale alongside Russell Drysdale and Sidney Nolan.

William Yang (b. 1943) is a Sydney-based photographer and pioneer of LGBTQI+ Australian photographic practice. Born in Mareeba, just outside of the northern Queensland city of Cairns, Yang became recognised for his emotive documentation of Sydney's queer scene after moving to the capital of New South Wales in the late 1960s. Yang's photographs record in intimate and moving detail the emergence and impact of HIV/AIDS on his friends and broader community within the city in the 1980s. Yang's work also engages with his identity in relation to his Chinese-Australian ancestry, and familial relationships and histories. The artist is known particularly for his technique of inscribing photographic prints with commentary and reflections that broaden the frame of the image, integrating photography and memoir to create a hybrid life-image writing. Yang's work has featured in significant group exhibitions both interstate and internationally, including *World Without End*, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2000); *Don't Leave Me This Way: Art in the Age of AIDS*, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (1994); *Life Lines*, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2009); *On the Edge: Australian Photographers of the 1970s*, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego (1998); *Sydney Photographed*, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (1994); and *From Bondi to Uluru*, Higashikawa Arts Centre, Hokkaido (1993). The artist's practice has been surveyed in a number of prominent retrospectives and solo presentations including *Diaries*, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney (1998); *William Yang: Australian Chinese*, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra (2001); and *William Yang: Seeing and Being Seen*, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (2021). His works are held in major state galleries, as well as the National Gallery of Australia and National Portrait Gallery.