David Malouf (b. 1934) is one of Australia's most distinguished writers, and has published more than 30 works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Raised in Brisbane, he became a full-time writer in 1977 having published two collections of verse and his first novel while teaching at the Universities of Queensland and Sydney. In 1978, he settled in Tuscany and the following year he met artist Jeffrey Smart, who'd been living in Italy for over a decade. They became close friends, and in early 1980 Smart made a number of drawings of Malouf – including this one – in preparation for a painting he was planning. Smart ultimately made two portraits in which Malouf is depicted wearing a boiler suit and sunglasses, and is posed in a sparse and uncanny urban-industrial setting. As Malouf once put it, these portraits were 'not an attempt on Jeffrey's part to evoke me in my world, but of having me in his dream world'. Following Smart's death in 2013, Malouf curated an exhibition of his friend's work for the University Art Gallery at the University of Sydney.
Gift of Dr Gene Sherman AM and Brian Sherman AM 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Estate of Jeffrey Smart
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