What if an artist’s daughter becomes an artist? Fathers and daughters
Many years ago I had the honour of being invited to open the major retrospective exhibition of the work of Nora Heysen. It had been curated by the amazingly erudite Lou Klepac and was held at the National Library of Australia in Canberra.
It was a knockout show that traced Nora Heysen’s development from her early juvenile years in Hahndorf, South Australia, through to her mature work, where she was the first woman to win the Archibald Prize for portraiture (1938) and the first woman to be appointed as an Official War Artist (1943-46). Despite recognition in many sectors, she was shy about exhibiting, and avoided publicity and the limelight.
