Herbert Vere Evatt (1894–1965) was a Labor politician, judge, historian and statesman. In 1930, aged 36, Evatt became the youngest judge ever appointed to the High Court of Australia. Elected to Federal Parliament in 1940, he held the seat of Barton for 18 years. From 1941 to 1949 he was Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs, and during this period he also served as President of the General Assembly of the United Nations. In 1951, he became Leader of the Opposition. In 1949, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation was established, and soon thousands of supposed communists were threatened with jail in the event of a war. When Prime Minister Menzies attempted to outlaw the Communist Party in Australia, Evatt led the effort to defeat the proposal. A referendum saw the Party's legitimacy confirmed. Evatt led the Labor Party until 1960.
In 1935 Evatt and his wife Mary Alice gave Arnold Shore his first portrait commission. In Shore's portrait, Evatt is shown not in his judicial robes but in the red academic robes of Doctor of Laws, an award made to him by the University of Sydney. Painted five years after he was appointed a Justice of the High Court, the portrait emphasises Evatt’s intellectual qualities.
Gift of Elizabeth Evatt and Penelope Seidler 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Malcom K Shore
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