Nora Heysen AM (1911–2003) was one of Australia's most accomplished portrait artists. Her self-portrait of 1934 was an early acquisition of the National Portrait Gallery. This interior photograph shows Heysen with a painting from her Ruth series, depicting a mighty farmgirl against the background of the Flinders Ranges. The portrait photographer Sage made this image of Heysen at the home in which she lived for most of her life. Sage was born in Wales, and his first photographs were of Welsh miners and their families during the UK miners' strike of the late 1980s. He studied documentary photography with the Magnum photographer David Hurn, and has worked as a photojournalist for the Sydney Morning Herald.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001
© Sage
Sage (5 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
National Portrait Gallery director Karen Quinlan AM nominates her quintet of favourites from the collection, with early twentieth-century ‘selfies’ filling the roster.
Australian artist, Nora Heysen, discusses her childhood and the development of her career.
