Charles Wheeler

Charles Wheeler OBE (1881–1977), artist, won the Archibald Prize in 1933 for a portrait of the popular Melbourne-based writer Ambrose Pratt. Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, Wheeler came to Australia as a child. He began his career as an apprentice lithographer before training as an artist at the Working Men's College and the National Gallery School. In 1910, Wheeler held his first solo show and sold works to the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the National Gallery of Victoria. Two years later he travelled to London and Paris, where he exhibited at the Paris Salon. During the First World War he served with the Royal Fusiliers in France, winning the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions at Vimy in 1916. After the war, Wheeler spent a year in London and exhibited at the Royal Academy before returning to Melbourne. He soon became well-known for his nudes and portraiture, as well as his landscapes, winning the New South Wales Art Quest Prize, the George Crouch Prize and the Archibald. He also worked as a teacher, becoming an assistant drawing instructor at the National Gallery School in 1927 and drawing master in 1935; from 1939 to 1945 he was painting master and head of the School. Wheeler continued painting well into his old age, turning late in life to impressionistic landscapes.