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Barbara Blackman AO (1928–2024), writer, poet and arts patron, was only fifteen when the ABC Weekly published one of her poems. She became a member of Brisbane's literary circle, which included Judith Wright and Thea Astley. In 1950 she was diagnosed with optic atrophy, and was declared blind by the age of 22. 'It seemed to me I was given a life sentence for a crime I had not committed,' she wrote in her 1997 biography Glass after Glass. Moving to Sydney to study, she met artist Charles Blackman. After they married in 1952, they moved to Melbourne, where they associated with artists Arthur Boyd, Fred Williams, Joy Hester and Mirka Mora among others. Along with modelling for her husband and their friends, Blackman worked as a magazine columnist and a radio-producer for Radio for the Print Handicapped. She interviewed hundreds of people for the National Library of Australia's oral history program. In 2007 Blackman published Portrait of a Friendship, which drew on her correspondence with Judith Wright. A documentary about her life, Seeing from Within, was released in 2017.
Long-term muse to her husband Charles Blackman (they divorced in 1978), Barbara appeared in many of his paintings including his 1956 series Alice in Wonderland. He drew this portrait of his wife in 1969.
Purchased 2009
© Charles Blackman/Copyright Agency, 2024
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Dr. Sarah Engledow explores the context surrounding Charles Blackman's portrait of Judith Wright, Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith.
Meredith McKinney, subject of Charles Blackman's 'The Family', recounts memories from her childhood and the creation of the portrait.
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.
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