Susan Wakil AO (1933–2018), philanthropist, came to Sydney at fifteen from Bessarabia (Moldova/Romania). Her father had been interned in a Siberian gulag, and her mother had died in a Soviet concentration camp. In Sydney she met her future husband, Isaac Wakil AO, who had experienced the anti-Jewish Farhud in Iraq. Together, they built up a clothing business. The couple appeared regularly in the social pages in the 1970s, Susan immaculately groomed and dressed in French couture. Over time, they purchased many unprepossessing properties across the Sydney CBD. The Susan and Isaac Wakil Foundation was established in 2014, when they began selling off properties. They subsequently donated $35 million to the University of Sydney and $24 million toward the Sydney Modern wing of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. They funded scholarships for disadvantaged students at public schools and an initiative to bring new audiences to the opera through inexpensive tickets. They were also major benefactors of the Sydney Jewish Museum.
This portrait is unusual in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, in not being painted from life. It was commissioned by Isaac Wakil AO to commemorate his late wife, his partner of 62 years. Shen Jiawei painted Susan from a photograph, wearing an ensemble by her favoured designer Yves Saint Laurent.
Gift of Isaac Wakil AO 2019
© Jiawei Shen
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