Edward MacMahon CBE (1904–1987), surgeon, studied medicine at the University of Sydney and completed his residency at Sydney Hospital. After working at the Woolwich War Memorial Hospital in London, he returned to Sydney to take up an appointment at St Vincent's Hospital in 1933. Over his career he was also senior honorary consultant general surgeon at Lewisham and the Mater Misericordiae hospital on the North Shore, where he often performed operations for disadvantaged patients on Friday nights and was much-loved by the resident Sisters of Mercy.
An avid collector, MacMahon came to know William Dobell after accepting one of his paintings as payment from an impecunious patient. In 1957 Dobell was diagnosed with bowel cancer, and in 1958 MacMahon performed two difficult operations on him. The men spent a lot of time together while Dobell recovered at St. Vincent's, during which period Dobell started to paint MacMahon's portrait. It won Dobell his third Archibald Prize, in 1959. 'Dr MacMahon is an enormous person. I owe everything to him', said the artist, who was a regular in the doctor’s family circle for the rest of his life.
Gift of the MacMahon family in affectionate memory of Edward MacMahon and William Dobell 2015. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© William Dobell/Copyright Agency, 2023
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