Self portrait

Adelaide-born Stella Bowen’s first art studies were with Margaret Preston, and later, in 1914, she travelled to London to study with Walter Richard Sickert at the Westminster School of Art. She pursued a life and career in England, France and the United States, along the way developing a powerful form of realism in her work that combined emotionally resonant content.

She formed associations with leading artists and writers in London and Paris, and for nine years shared a life with the writer Ford Madox Ford, with whom she had a child. This solemn portrait was painted at the time of her separation from Ford. Her direct gaze expresses a resolute determination, while her unrestrained double collar hints at forseeable freedom. Her personal resolve was rewarded when she was recognised for her ability to capture the likeness of her models: in 1944 Bowen was appointed an official war artist for Australia.

Tracey Lock, Curator of Australian Paintings and Sculpture