Michael Boddy (1934–2014), writer and farmer, was a graduate of Cambridge University. In 1960, he arrived in Australia as a 'ten pound Pom', and worked in theatre, television, radio and film as a writer, actor and director. A bio-dynamic farmer since 1974, he now writes about farming, horticulture, natural history, food, consumer affairs and scientific matters. About Summer 1986 Michael Boddy said: "It was painted alla prima in one three-hour session on a very hot day. I was asleep on a sheet on the studio couch. Janet, my wife, came in to get a large stretched canvas to do a landscape. I said it was big enough to get all of me into it. She told me to stay put, set up at once, and got me all into it, plus the dog. A human landscape. My only stipulation was that I should be awake, conscious of the viewer, and not at all welcoming. I much prefer it to the Archibald Prize-winner she did of me in 1973."
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2000, part gift of Michael Boddy
© Janet Dawson/Copyright Agency, 2022
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