Canberra’s doyen of theatre Coralie Wood was farewelled by Mary Porter AM MLA yesterday as she was shipped off to Sydney on the back of a truck. Well, at least her portrait was.
Regional artist Dr Ian Henderson DCA approached Ms Wood after she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in June 2008 and asked her to sit for him.
He felt that Coralie and her colourful life were the perfect subject for a portrait to be entered in the 2009 Archibald Prize.
Dr Henderson DCA is the author of ‘Visual Design: a collection of essays concerning the visual nature of landscape–essays for paintings’. He recently held an exhibition of his paintings at his studio in Nimmitabel.
His entry in the Archibald Prize for 2008 was a portrait of journalist Ian Leslie.
The painting, titled Coralie Central combines incorporates various aspects of Coralie’s life and history.
The crimson bouffant, the larger than life lashes and the Star of David that represents the publicist’s strong link to her Jewish heritage are the central focus of the portrait.
At the launch the artist said Ms Wood was a wonderful subject to paint, and thanked Henry Hann from That Framing Place in Braddon for framing the portrait.
Ms Wood said she would be delighted if she were hung at the NSW Art Gallery with old friend Jon English, who is also a portrait subject for this year’s Archibald’s.
