Nora HEYSEN ~ Still Life ✿

Australian artist Nora Heysen (1911 -2003) was the first woman to win the prestigious Archibald Prize in 1938 for portraiture and the first Australian woman appointed as an official war artist. Heysen’s post-war portraiture and still lifes sustained a lifelong career.

Nora Heysen, daughter of the artist, Hans Heysen, was born in Adelaide in 1911. She studied at the school of Fine Arts in Adelaide and, in 1934, travelled to London where she studied for two years at the Central School of Art. She returned to Australia in 1937. In 1938, she became the first woman to win the prestigious Archibald Prize for portraiture. In 1943, Heysen was appointed the first female official war artist. Her initial task was to paint studio portraits of the commanding officers of the women's auxiliary services.