Peter Carey AO (b. 1943), author, published the first of his fourteen novels, Bliss, in 1981. Nominated for the Booker Prize for his second novel, Illywhacker (1985), he won the prize three years later with Oscar and Lucinda, an idiosyncratic romance set in nineteenth-century New South Wales. With True History of the Kelly Gang (2000), he became only the second writer to scoop the Booker Prize twice. His many other prizes include three Miles Franklin Awards and four Age Book of the Year Awards. Since 1990, Carey has lived in New York, where he continues to write novels and is Distinguished Professor and Director of the MFA Creative Writing program at Hunter College.
Bruce Armstrong, best known as a sculptor, sought a meeting with Peter Carey while visiting New York in 2000. The pair had one encounter, and both artist and sitter were disconcerted by the sketches Armstrong managed to produce under pressure on the day. So Carey agreed to be photographed, and Armstrong returned with sketches and photos to continue work on the portrait on a property near Kyneton, Victoria. It was here, on the fringe of 'Kelly Country', that the background to the figure of Carey evolved.
Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
© Bruce Armstrong
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