Heysen, Nora (1911 - 2003)

The daughter of South Australian landscape painter Sir Hans Heysen, Nora Heysen was the first woman to win the Archibald portrait prize (1938) and the first women to be appointed as an Australian war artist on 12 October 1943. During her service Heysen completed over 170 works of art. Following the war she travelled to England and in January 1953 married Dr Robert Black, who was to become the Head of Tropical Medicine at the University of Sydney. On 26 January 1998 Nora Heysen was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her service to art as a painter of portraits and still life subjects.

• Black, Nora (married name, - 1972)

Related People

• Parker, Catherine (Katie) Langloh (1856 - 1940)

  Nora Heysen illustrated some of the collections by Katie Parker

Books

• Klepac, Lou, 1936-, Nora Heysen, Beagle Press, Sydney, 1989, 80 pp. [ Details... ]
• Klepac, Lou, 1936-, Nora Heysen, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2000, 53 pp. [ Details... ]

Journal Articles

• Groom, Linda, 'Nora Heysen 1911-2003', NATIONAL Library of Australia News, April, 2004, p. 22. [ Details... ]

Newspaper Articles

• 'Her voyage was lit by a father's fire', Sydney Morning Herald, 6 January, 2004, p. 13. [ Details... ]
• Barron, Sonia, 'A remarkable artist', Canberra Times, 13 November 2000, p. 12. [ Details... ]
• Klepac, Lou, 'Painter made her own mark', Australian, 1 January, 2004, p. 14. [ Details... ]
• Lancashire, Rebecca, 'Painting of the week no. 10: Portrait Study (1933), Nora Heysen (born 1911)', Age, The Culture, 4 June, 2002, p. 3. [ Details... ]
• McDonald, Partick, 'Nora Heysen's back to paint memory lane', Advertiser, 25 May, 2003, p. 25. [ Details... ]
• Meagher, David, 'A cautious gaze', Australian Financial Review, Review magazine, 10 November 2000, pp. 12-18. [ Details... ]
• O'Brien, Philip, 'Visions of life in belated focus', Canberra Times, 21 October 2000, p. 10. [ Details... ]
• Pearce, Barry, 'In 1938, the first woman to win the Archibald Prize', The Age, Obituaries, 14 January 2004, p. 12. [ Details... ]
• Safe, Georgina, 'Noted artist Nora Heysen dies at 92', Australian, 31 December, 2003, p. 5. [ Details... ]
• Williams, Nadine, 'Trailblazer', (Weekend supplement), 10 January, 2004, pp. 6-7. [ Details... ]

sound recordings

• Heysen, Nora, 1911-2003., Interview with Nora Heysen, painter, Dr. Denise Hickey oral history project Interview recorded at Centre for Advancement of Teaching, Macquarie University., Hickey, Denise., [1971?]. [ Details... ]
• Heysen, Nora, 1911-2003., [Conversation with Nora Heysen], Heysen speaks about her training ; studying in London ; her interest in painting flowers ; portraiture, De Berg, Hazel, 1913-1984., 8 November. [ Details... ]
• Heysen, Nora, 1911-2003., Interview with Nora Heysen, painter, Nora Heysen, daughter of famed Australian landscape artist, Hans Heysen, the only one of his eight children to become an artist, she spent her childhood near Adelaide painting and drawing often in the company of her father. In 1931 at age 20 she began exhibiting her works in three State galleries and then undertook further training in London for the next four years. In 1939 having moved back to Australia and living in Sydney, she became the first woman artist to win the Archibald Prize. After marrying she was appointed as a war artist in New Guinea during World War II., Rusden, Heather, 1948-, 25 August. [ Details... ]

Theses

• Nockels, Kate., 'Hidden from view [manuscript] : Nora Heysen twentieth century Australian artist', MA thesis, Australian National University, 1997, 78 pp. [ Details... ]

Online Resources

• Department of Veterans' Affairs, 'HEYSEN, NORA', in World War 2 Nominal Roll, 2002, http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/script/veteran.asp?ServiceID=A&VeteranID=498934. [ Details... ]
• National Library of Australia, Nora Heysen, National Library of Australia, http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/noraheysen/index.html. [ Details... ]

See also

• Howard, Ann, You'll be sorry!, Tarka, Sydney, 1990, 193 pp. [ Details... ]