Ivor Hele
Sir Ivor Hele Westbourne Park Primary School Prince Alfred College | |
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Known for | Landscape and Portrait painting |
Awards | Archibald Prize: 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957 Melrose Prize: 1935, 1936, 1939 |
Sir Ivor Henry Thomas Hele,
Biography
Hele was born in
In 1927, encouraged by his tutor Marie Tuck (1866–1947), the 15-year-old Ivor sailed to Europe, where he studied drawing and painting for six months at the academy run by Louis-François Biloul (1874–1947) in Paris, and another six months at the summer school run by Moritz Heymann (1870–1937) at Reichersbeuern, Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in the Bavaria Alps.[5] He returned to Australia early in 1930.[6] He was to return to Paris and Bavaria three years later, as a married man.[7]
At age 20 Hele married Jean Berry, a prominent
In 1936 his painting The Proclamation won first prize in a competition to mark the Centenary of South Australia.[10]
In 1938 a major work,
War Artist
Encouraged by
He remained with the 9th Division, which was later transferred to New Guinea. After the war he returned to Aldinga, where from his extensive portfolio of sketches, he executed many of the paintings which are held by the Australian War Memorial. In 1952 he was appointed as a war artist to the Australian forces in Korea.[14]
Subject matter
Apart from the figure studies and war scenes held by the Australian War Memorial for which he is best known, and the many portraits, Ivor Hele painted many landscapes, particularly of the rugged South Australian coast, and a great number of erotic drawings. The National Gallery of Australia holds around 130 of his works, mostly minor pieces, and the Art Gallery of South Australia a few dozen. His work was occasionally seen at
Personal life
Hele had an older brother, Harold A. Hele (23 April 1908 – 19 December 1941), and twin sisters, Beryl, who married Alf Head on 4 October 1930, and Phyllis Hele, who married Jack Dew Laurenti on 3 March 1937. A niece, sculptor Marcia Rankin, inherited Hele's sketchbooks, which she presented to the Australian War Memorial.
On 24 March 1932, Hele married Millicent Mary Jean Berry, a school teacher, at the Manse, Germein Street, Semaphore, South Australia. They divorced in 1957 and he married June Weatherly. Hele was severely self-critical and only ever held two exhibitions of his work, in 1931 and 1958. He was a perfectionist who often burned paintings he was dissatisfied with.[13]
Hele died in the South Australian suburb of Bedford Park and was cremated.
Works and awards
- He was commissioned to paint the opening of Federal Parliament by the Queen during her visit in 1954.
- He painted portraits of Prime Ministers Sir William McMahon and Malcolm Fraser, which are hanging in the New Parliament House in Canberra.
- His portrait of Sir Thomas Blamey is held by the Australian War Memorial, as is one of Tom Derrick VC., with whom Hele had trained in 1940.[15]
- His portrait of Sir Lyell McEwin, longtime leader of the South Australian Legislative Council, hangs in Parliament House, Adelaide.[18]
- His portrait of Professor Chapman hangs in the University of Adelaide's Chapman Theatre.
- The National Portrait Gallery holds his portraits of Claude Charlick, Sir Lloyd Dumas and Senator, Dame Nancy Buttfield.
- The Art Gallery of South Australia holds Hele's portraits of Sir Hans Heysen and archivist Lyndon Dadswell, as well as his 1938 Sturt's reluctant decision to return.
- The State Library of New South Wales has his 1957 self-portrait and a portrait of playwright Max Afford.
- His portrait of John Martin's Christmas Pageant.[19]
- Portraits of Sir Donald Bradman and the Duke of Gloucester.[20]
-
Portrait of Major George Warfe
-
Official Portrait of Robert Menzies
Archibald Prize
He won Australia's most prestigious portrait prize, the Archibald Prize five times, for these works in the following years:
- 1951 – Laurie Thomas (held by the State Library of New South Wales)[21]
- 1953 - Sir Henry Simpson Newland, CBE, DSO, MS, FRCS
- 1954 - Rt Hon Sir R. G. Menzies, PC, CH, QC, MP
- 1955 – Robert Campbell Esq.
- 1957 – Self Portrait
Melrose Prize
He won the
- 1935 – James Ferries Esq. (other portraits by him were of H. E. Fuller and Dr. Fenner).[22]
- 1936
- 1939
Honours
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), 1954[23]
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), 1969[24]
- Knight Bachelor (Kt), 1983[25]
- A bronze bust of Hele by his niece Marcia Rankin, based on a photograph by C. T. Halmarick, is held by the Australian War Memorial.[26]
References
- ^ "Hele, Sir Ivor Henry (1912–1993)". Biography Sir Ivor Henry Hele (1912–1993). National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
{{cite book}}
:|website=
ignored (help) - ^ "Ivor Hele – the heroic figure". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
- ^ a b c "Genius of Ivor Hele". The News. Adelaide. 18 December 1926. p. 7 Edition: Sporting. Retrieved 2 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- The Victor Harbor Times and Encounter Bay and Lower Murray Pilot. SA. 5 October 1923. p. 6. Retrieved 2 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Description accompanying photograph P02473.004". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ISBN 9781862544901
- The Mail. Adelaide. 14 January 1933. p. 5. Retrieved 2 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Women's Electric Light Basketball". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 24 April 1939. p. 7. Retrieved 2 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Artist Finds Ideal Home In Country Retreat". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 4 June 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 2 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "S.A. Digger To Be Official War Artist". The News. Adelaide. 21 January 1941. p. 5. Retrieved 3 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Big Sydney Art Prize To Adelaide Painter". The News. Adelaide. 13 January 1938. p. 6. Retrieved 3 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Ivor Hele Picture Bought By Commonwealth". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 5 July 1938. p. 18. Retrieved 3 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b c Lola Wilkins. "Artist in the aftermath". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ McCulloch, Alan, Encyclopedia of Australian Art Hutchinson of London, 1968
- ^ a b "War Artist Has To Work Fast". The News. Adelaide. 18 August 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 3 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Ivor Hele". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/drawn-to-the-landscape-of-the-vale/news-story/0eca4a39aec36cb26f324f0b32fcd247%3famp.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ Judith Raftery, 'McEwin, Sir Alexander Lyell (1897–1988)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcewin-sir-alexander-lyell-15104/text26305, published first in hardcopy 2012, accessed online 21 November 2014.
- ^ "Ivor Hele". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
- ^ "S.A. Artist Wins Archibald Prize". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 26 January 1952. p. 3. Retrieved 4 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Laurie Thomas". State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ "Fine Portraits to be Shown". The News. Adelaide. 25 September 1935. p. 3. Retrieved 4 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ It's an Honour: OBE Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine; Retrieved 10 August 2013
- ^ It's an Honour: CBE Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine: Retrieved 10 August 2013
- ^ It's an Honour: Knight Bachelor Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine: Retrieved 10 August 2013
- ^ "Portrait of the artist's uncle". Australian War Memorial.
External links
- The Productive Artist
- Search the National Gallery of Australia Archived 7 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine