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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

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Portrait of Robert Klippel

1980
Yvonne Audette AM

oil on composition board (frame: 162.5 cm x 124.5 cm, support: 152.5 cm x 114.5 cm)

Robert Klippel AO (1920-2001) was the most significant sculptor Australia has yet produced. He joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1939, and spent the war constructing model aircraft and ships designed to educate his fellow-servicemen in the recognition of enemy craft. After the war he studied sculpture in Sydney and London, and his 'assemblages' - sculptures that combined mechanical objects with organic materials - attracted enthusiasm in Europe. Among their admirers was the French surrealist André Breton, who organised an exhibition in Paris in 1949. Klippel moved to the USA in 1957, and spent a decade teaching there. He then returned to Sydney, where he lived and sculpted near Balmain until his death. He was collaborating on a retrospective show of his works at the Art Gallery of NSW when he died.

Yvonne Audette, painter, studied under John Passmore at the Julian Ashton School from 1948 to 1952. In 1955, she embarked on a decade of travel and study in the USA, London, France, Spain and Italy during which she mingled freely with the cutting edge abstractionists of the day. She returned to Sydney, where her first exhibition was with Robert Klippel at Kym Bonython's new gallery; she and Klippel remained close friends all his life. Within a couple of years she moved to Melbourne, where she still lives and works. In 1999 the Queensland Art Gallery mounted a major show of her art from the 1950s and 60s; her most recent commercial exhibition was in 2001 at the Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne. Described as Australia's greatest living abstract painter, yet little known, Audette has recently gained a higher public profile with the publication of Yvonne Audette Paintings and Drawings 1949-2003 (2004).

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
© Yvonne Audette/Copyright Agency, 2024

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

Artist and subject

Yvonne Audette AM (age 50 in 1980)

Robert Klippel AO (age 60 in 1980)

Subject professions

Visual arts and crafts

Donated by

Yvonne Audette AM (1 portrait)

© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

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