Florence Austral (1892–1968), operatic soprano, achieved international renown during the 1920s. Born Florence Wilson, she studied at the Conservatorium of Music and the University of Melbourne, graduating in 1919. On arriving in London, she, like her compatriot Nellie Melba, adopted a name honouring her homeland and as Florence Austral debuted in the role of Brünnhilde in Wagner's Die Walküre at Covent Garden in 1922. During the 1920s and 1930s she toured North America and Australia and made the first of many recordings. The quality and power of her voice lent itself to the Wagnerian roles that secured her reputation, but she also performed in operas by Verdi, Mozart and Puccini. By the end of the 1930s, Austral was increasingly afflicted by multiple sclerosis. With her husband, flautist John Amadio, she returned to Australia after the war and in the 1950s took up a teaching position at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music in Newcastle. She was admitted to an aged care facility in the early 1960s.
Howard Barron was a renowned portraitist, whose commissions included Sir Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth II and Dame Nellie Melba. This portrait of Austral is likely to have been painted when the diva toured Australia in 1930. Barron's portrait presents a clear statement about Austral's success, portraying her as a confident woman in a theatrical pose.
Gift of the University of Newcastle (Australia) 2007
© Estate of Howard Barron
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