George Russell Drysdale was born in England, to an Anglo-Australian pastoralist family, who settled in Melbourne in 1923. Drysdale, educated in Geelong had poor eyesight all his life, and was virtually blind in his left eye from age 17.
The young Drysdale worked as a jackaroo on his uncle's estate in Queensland and in Victoria. A chance encounter in 1932 awakened him to the possibility of a career as an artist and he studied in Melbourne from 1935 to 1938.
Russell made several trips to Europe painting and studying during the ensuing years. By the time of his return from the third of these trips in June 1939 he was recognised within Australia as an important emerging talent. His decision to leave Melbourne for Albury and then Sydney in 1940 was instrumental to his discovery of his life-long subject matter and characteristic style, which gave rise to the desolate landscapes of the Australian outback and its sparse inhabitants.
His trademark was the style of portraits that are hot, desolate, isolated and subtly threatening. Drysdale’s times in Europe and Britain established his international reputation, which continued to grow throughout the 1950s and 1960s as he explored remote Australia and its inhabitants many of whom were Aboriginal.
In 1969, Drysdale was knighted for his services to art, and in 1980, he was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia.
Drysdale died in Sydney on 29 June 1981 and was survived by his second wife Maisie Purves Smith and daughter Lynne.
It is the generous bequest on behalf of the Drysdale estate made by Lady Maisie Drysdale that supports the Fellowship and, combined with the Nicks bequest, ensures the annual awarding of a Fellowship. Lynne Clarke (Russell’s daughter) serves on the Committee ensuring the vision of the benefactors continues.