Patrick White (1912–1990), acknowledged as Australia's pre-eminent novelist of the 20th century, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973 for The Eye of the Storm, which was said to have 'introduced a new continent into literature'. He established the Patrick White Award, an annual literary prize, with his Nobel Prize funds. Born in London to a family of Hunter River graziers, he spent his youth between England and Australia, at one point returning from study abroad to work as a jackaroo. At Kings College Cambridge he studied French and German languages and literature; the experience of the Australian landscape and European literature and thought were to become major influences in White's writing. After a spell as an intelligence officer in North Africa during the Second World War, he returned to Australian with his partner, Manoly Lascaris. The two men were partners for 50 years.
An outspoken commentator on various political, cultural and social issues, White was also a significant art collector. David Moore's photograph shows White with some of his collection in the home he and Lascaris shared at Castle Hill in north-west Sydney from 1948 until 1963.
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001
© Lisa, Michael, Matthew and Joshua Moore
http://davidmoorephotography.com.au/
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