Sir William Dargie, portrait artist
Hyfler/Rosner
MELBOURNE, Australia
Sir William Dargie, one of Australia's most respected portrait artists, died
Saturday. He was 91.
Dargie won Australia's most prestigious portrait award, the Archibald Prize,
a record eight times between 1941 and 1956.
He heard of his win in the 1941 competition while digging a trench in Egypt,
where he was serving in the Australian army during World War II.
Dargie painted a portrait of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in 1954 that still
hangs in Australia's Parliament House. Prints of the work were sent to
council chambers and schools across the country, which is independent but
retains the British monarch as its head of state.
One of Dargie's most famous portraits was of renowned Aboriginal artist
Albert Namatjira, whom he considered a close friend.