Major General Paul Cullen AC CBE DSO and Bar, ED (Rtd) (1909–2007) was a soldier, banker, welfare executive and grazier. He served with exceptional distinction on many fronts in the Second World War, particularly on the Kokoda Track and in the Wewak campaign. After the war he became the first president of the Citizen Military Forces Association (later the Army Reserve). Having formed Australia’s first unit trust before the war, in 1950 he formed Australia’s first merchant bank, Mainguard (Australia) Ltd. Over time he became the president of Austcare, the Refugee Council of Australia, the Australian Jewish Welfare Society for Refugees and the Royal Blind Society of New South Wales. In 1981 he received the Nansen Medal from the United Nations, in recognition of his work on behalf of refugees.
Mathew Lynn painted this forthright portrait of Cullen over a series of meetings at Cullen’s grazing property in the Southern Highlands, and in his own studio in Sydney. On one occasion he rode out with Cullen to muster some cattle. The old soldier rounded them up, but asked Lynn to count them, as his sight was no longer what it was. Later he joked that Lynn is a better painter than horseman.
Gift of the New South Wales Jewish War Memorial 2002
© Mathew Lynn
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