The Dobell Case

Selden Society lecture series Australia

One of the world’s leading art prizes, The Archibald Prize, has been the battleground for debates and disputes about the definition of portraiture since its inception in 1921. It was established in 1919, pursuant to the will of Mr J F Archibald (a former editor of The Bulletin). Its annual exhibitions at the Art Gallery of NSW have reflected the evolving tastes and trends of Australia’s visual arts culture and offered public exposure to new interpretations of the portraiture genre. The legal case brought against the 1943 Archibald Prize winner, William Dobell (then a relatively unknown artist), forms part of a long history of art-world litigation built around questions of taste and changing definitions of art itself. Dobell’s prize winning portrait used distortion and exaggeration to capture the essence and character of his friend and colleague Joshua Smith; the artist sought to create an image, not merely copy one. The final, convention-breaking painting created huge public interest and stimulated debate about the definition of portraiture.

The resulting court case, brought by two disaffected Archibald Prize entrants against Dobell and the Gallery’s trustees, saw two of the greatest advocates of the day—Garfield Barwick KC (for the plaintiffs) and Frank Kitto KC (for the Art Gallery of NSW)—contest the differences between caricature and portraiture over a four-day trial. In the result, the decision of the trustees was upheld: Attorney-General v Trustees of the Art Gallery of NSW (1944) 62 WN (NSW) 212. However, the case took its toll on Dobell and the other participants in this extraordinary dispute.
This September marks 75 years since the case.

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