Judy Cassab

Judy Cassab (b. 1920)

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1920
1938 Attends art classes at the Academy of Art, Prague
1939 Marries Jansci Kampfner
1941 Studies with Aurel Bernath and Lipot Hermann in Budapest. Husband in Nazi forced labour camps in Poland and Kiev (1941-44).
1944 Takes name of Maria Koperdak and takes job in pharmaceutical factory. Husband returns to Hungary.
1945 Lives in small flat, continues to paint. Son, John, born on 31 December.
1946 Begins visits to Szentendre, an artist’s colony on the Danube
1947 Death of father. Exhibits at the National Salon, Budapest. Son, Peter, born 5 September.
1949 Moves to Vienna, then to Salzburg in December
1950 Immigration permit from Australia. Visit to Amsterdam.
1951 Emigrates to Sydney, Australia
1952 Involved in artist circles, enters the Archibald Prize
1954 Attends Sheila McDonald’s sketch club
1957-58 Becomes an Australian citizen. Travels throughout Europe and the USA, Karachi, New Delhi and Jaipur. Meets de Chirico and paints the portraits of Hugh Gaskell and Lord Thorneycroft the Maharaja and Maharani during this period.
1959 First of several trips to Alice Springs, Ayers Rock etc. London exhibition at the Crane Kalman Gallery.
Paints portrait of Princess Alexandra for the Orient Line
1960 New York, London, portraits of Princess Alexandra with Prince Michael and the Duke of Kent. Geneva, Lausanne, Alice Springs, Cairo, London (portraits of Duchess of Kent, Princess Marina).
1961 Awarded Archibald prize for the portrait of Stanislaus Rapotec.
1962 Hayman Island, Bangkok (paints Queen Sirikit)
1963 Moves to Bellevue Hill. London. Lugano, Scotland. Paints Gavin Astor and Lady Irene Astor at Hever Castle.
1966 Visits Los Angeles, New York, Switzerland
1968 Visits Broome, Derby, Mount House Station, Port Headland, Wittenoom. Awarded Archibald prize for portrait of Margo Lewers.
1969 Visits Aix en Provence, Madrid, New York
1970 Mexico City
1971 New York
1972 Alice Springs. London, portrait of Lord Rosenblum for the Royal College of Physicians.
1973 New Guinea, Mount Isa, Townsville and Magnetic Island, New Zealand
1975 In England, paints triple portrait of the children of the Duke and Duchess of Kent at Anmer Hall. Made Member of the Council of the order of Australia. Paints portraits of Joan Sutherland and Robert Helpmann for the Sydney Opera House.
1976 Broken Hill, Cobar, Wilcannia. Visits Documenta 6, Kassel, Cologne, London
1978 Tennant Creek, The Devil’s Marbles. Europe, Barcelona, New York.
1979 Moves to Double Bay
1980 Appointed Trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (1980-88).
1981 London, Paris, Hungary, Greece, Germany
1982 Bali
1983 In England, paints portrait of the Duke of Kent for Wimbledon; visits Aix en Provence, Amsterdam, Alice Springs
1984 Elwyn Lynn, Judy Cassab: Places, Faces and Fantasies published by MacMillan; portfolio of lithographs, Australian Portraits, published by the Beagle Press.
1985-86 Travels to Bali and Alice Springs
1987 Visits London, Paris, Los Angeles, New York, Ayers Rock
1988 Awarded the honour of officer of the Order of Australia. Launch of the book, Judy Cassab, Artists and Friends published by the Beagle Press

Visits Cairns, Daintree.
1989 Spent three months at Cite International des Arts, Paris
1990 Trip to Kakadu National Park
1991 Portraits commissioned of Elizabeth Evatt for the Family Court, and Yasuko Myer in a kimono
1995 Awarded Honorary Doctorate, Sydney University; Winner of Nita Kibble Literary Award for Diaries
1996 Winner of Foundation for Australian Literary Studies award, James Cook University, Townsville
1997 Launch of book and touring exhibition Portraits of Artist and Friends
2004 Awarded The Painters & Sculptors Association of Australia Medal

EXHIBITIONS

Has held over 70 solo and group exhibitions in Australia and overseas since the early 1950s, and has exhibited almost annually throughout this period.

AWARDS

1955 The Perth Prize
1955 The Woman's Weekly Prize
1956 The Woman's Weekly Prize
1961 Archibald Prize (portrait of Stanislaus Rapotec)
1964 Sir Charles Lloyd Jones Memorial Prize
1964 The Helena Rubenstein Prize, Perth, WA
1965 Sir Charles Lloyd Jones Memorial Prize
1965 The Helena Rubenstein Prize, Perth, WA
1968 Archibald Prize (portrait of Margo Lewers)
1969 Commander of the Order British Empire (CBE)
1971 Sir Charles Lloyd Jones Memorial Prize
1973 Sir Charles Lloyd Jones Memorial Prize
1988 Order of Australia (AO)
1994 The Pring Prize, Art Gallery of NSW
1994 The Trustees Watercolour Prize, Art Gallery of NSW
1995 Honorary Doctorate of Letters, University of Sydney
1996 The Nita Kibble Award for Literature, for "Diaries"
1996 Winner of Foundation for Australian Literary Studies, James Cook University, Townsville
1997 The Pring Prize, Art Gallery of NSW
1998 The Pring Prize, Art Gallery of NSW
2003 The Trustees Watercolour Prize, Art Gallery of NSW
2003 The Pring Prize, Art Gallery of NSW
2004 Medal of Life Achievement, Sculptors and Painters Association of Australia

REPRESENTED

Australia:
· Art Gallery of NSW
· Art Bank of Australia
· Art Gallery of Western Australia
· Art Gallery of South Australia
· Australia National Gallery, Canberra
· Bendigo City Art Gallery
· Darwin Museum
· Mornington Peninsula Art Centre, Victoria
· National Gallery of Victoria
· National University, Canberra
· New England Regional Art Gallery
· New Parliament House, Canberra
· Power House Gallery of Contemporary Art, Sydney
· Queensland Art Gallery
· Rockhampton City Art Gallery
· Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
· The High Court, Canberra
· University of Sydney
· University of NSW
International:
· Janos Pannonius Museum, Pecs, Hungary
· Rugby Museum, England
· Nuffield Foundation, Oxford, England
· National Portrait Gallery, London, England
· National Gallery, Budapest
· Reserve Bank Collection
· United Nations Building, Geneva, Switzerland

COLLECTIONS

· National Gallery of Australia
· Art Gallery of NSW
· National Gallery of Victoria
· Queensland Art Gallery
· Art Gallery of Western Australia
· Art Gallery of South Australia
· Tasmanian Museum and Gallery
· Powerhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Sydney
· Artbank
· New Parliament House, Canberra
· The High Court, Canberra
· Rockhampton City Art Gallery
· Bendigo City Art Gallery
· New England Regional Art Gallery
· Mornington Peninsula Art Centre, Victoria
· Newcastle Regional Art Gallery
· Maitland Regional Art Gallery
· Australian National University, Canberra
· University of Sydney
· University of New South Wales
· National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom
· Nuffield Foundation, Oxford, United Kingdom
· Rugby Museum, United Kingdom
· World Bank Collection
· National Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
· Janos Pannonius Museum, Pecs, Hungary
· United Nations Building, Geneva, Switzerland
· The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, Scotland

REFERENCE

Lou Klepac, Judy Cassab: Portraits of Artists and Friends. the Beagle Press Sydney, 1998.