Painter and printmaker David Strachan is best known for his mining landscapes, figurative works and still lifes. He trained at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, the Académie de la Grand Chaumière in Paris and George Bell’s school in Melbourne before moving to Sydney in 1941. There he studied at East Sydney Technical College, where he met Margaret Olley, who became a lifelong friend. Strachan was one of the group of artists who travelled regularly to the abandoned NSW mining town of Hill End, and during the war he worked as a camouflage painter at Bankstown aerodrome with other artists such as William Dobell. His first solo exhibition, held at the Macquarie Galleries in 1944, included this poetic self portrait, which demonstrates his recurring fascination with flowers and angelic figures emerging out of darkness. In the 1960s, following a decade living in Paris and London, Strachan taught at East Sydney Tech and exhibited regularly, winning the Wynne Prize for landscape painting in 1961 and 1964.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017
© Estate of David Strachan
David Strachan (age 25 in 1944)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Open every day
Drawn from the National Portrait Gallery collection, this salon-style hang references the lavish 18th- and 19th-century European salons where paintings were hung floor-to-ceiling.
Visit us, learn with us, support us or work with us! Here’s a range of information about planning your visit, our history and more!
