Judy Cassab (15 August 19203 November 2015), born Judit Kaszab, was an Australian painter.

Early years

Judy Cassab was born in Vienna, on 15 August 1920 to Jewish Hungarian parents. She began painting at twelve years old and began studying at the Academy of Art in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in 1938 but was forced to flee the German occupation in 1939. Cassab worked in a factory under an assumed name and put her artistic skills to use after hours forging papers and passports. Her husband, Jancsi Kampfner, was put in a forced labour camp by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and returned to Hungary in 1944. Cassab, her husband and two sons emigrated to Australia in 1951 and settled in Sydney. Cassab became an Australian citizen in 1957.

Career

Cassab was the first woman to win the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

twice: * 1960 for a portrait of

Stan Rapotec Stanislav Ivan Rapotec (4 October 1913 – 18 November 1997) was a Slovene-Australian artist. Early life Stanislav Rapotec was born in 1913 in Trieste, at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1918 he moved with his family to ...

* 1967 for a portrait of

Margo Lewers Margo Lewers (19081978) was an Australian interdisciplinary abstract artist who worked across the media of painting, sculpture, tapestry, ceramics and the domestic arts. She was renowned for a number of major public commissions and for her la ...

. She held more than fifty solo exhibitions in Australia, as well as others in Paris and London. After Cassab's work was acquired by the National Gallery, she was interviewed by James Gleeson about how she captured people's character in their portraits. This interview later formed part of the James Gleeson Oral History Collection.

Solo exhibitions

* 1953 - Macquarie Galleries, Sydney * 1953 - Macquarie Galleries, Sydney * 1959 - Newcastle City Art Gallery * 1959 - Crane Kalman Gallery, London * 1963 - Macquarie Galleries, Sydney * 1961 - Crane Kalman Gallery, London * 1962 - Argus Gallery, Melbourne * 1963 - Rudy Koman Gallery, Sydney * 1964 - Georges Gallery, Melbourne * 1964 - Von Bertouch Gallery, Newcastle * 1917 - Skinner Gallery, Perth * 1969 - Skinner Gallery, Perth * 1971 - Rudy Koman Gallery, Sydney * 1973 - Skinner Gallery, Perth * 1973 - Reid Gallery, Brisbane * 1975 - Von Bertouch Gallery, Newcastle * 1976 - South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne * 1978 - New Art Centre, London * 1979 - Rudy Koman Gallery, Sydney * 1990 - Masterpieces Fine Art, Hobart * 1980 - Verlie Just Town Gallery, Brisbane * 1981 - Australian Embassy, Paris * 1981 - New Art Centre, London * 1982 - Rudy Koman Gallery, Sydney * 1982 - Greenhill Gallery, Perth * 1982 - Greenhill Gallery, Adelaide * 1983 - Von Bertouch Gallery, Newcastle * 1984 - Verlie Just Town Gallery, Brisbane * 1985 - Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney * 1985 - Benalla Regional Gallery, Victoria * 1985 - Hamilton Regional Gallery, Victoria * 1985 - Caulfield Art Centre, Melbourne * 1985 - David Ellis Gallery,

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

, Victoria * 1987 - Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney * 1987 - David Ellis Gallery, Ballarat, Victoria * 1988 -

S. H. Ervin Gallery The S. H. Ervin Gallery is a major public art institution housed in the historic National Trust Centre in Observatory Park, Sydney.National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

, Canberra * 1988 - Von Bertouch Gallery, Newcastle * 1988 - Solander Gallery, Canberra * 1989 - David Ellis Gallery, Melbourne * 1989 - Verlie Just Town Gallery, Brisbane * 1990 - Festival of Perth, Fremantle Arts Centre * 1990 - Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney * 1991 - David Ellis Gallery, Melbourne * 1991 - Verlie Just Town Gallery, Brisbane * 1992 - Freeman Gallery, Hobart * 1992 - Schubert Gallery, Gold Coast * 1992 - Solander Gallery, Canberra * 1992 - Von Bertouch Gallery, Newcastle * 1993 - Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney * 1993 - Lyall Burton Gallery, Melbourne * 1994 - Town Gallery, Brisbane * 1994 - Solander Gallery, Canberra * 1994 - Schubert Gallery, Gold Coast * 1995 - Riverina Galleries, Wagga Wagga * 1996 - Von Bertouch Gallery, Newcastle * 1996 - Lyall Burton Gallery, Melbourne * 1996 - BMG Gallery, Adelaide * 1998 - S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney * 1998 - Australian Galleries, Sydney * 1999 - Stafford Studios, Perth * 1999 - Von Bertouch Gallery, Newcastle * 1999 -

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

* 2000 - Greythorn Gallery, Melbourne * 2001 - Von Bertouch Gallery, Newcastle * 2001 - Solander Gallery, Canberra * 2001 - Australian Galleries, Sydney * 2003 - Vasarely Muzeum, Budapest * 2003 - Australian Embassy, Dublin * 2003 - Australian Embassy, Berlin * 2004 - Charlemagne Building, Brussels * 2004 - Maitland Regional Art Gallery * 2004 - Michael Carr Gallery, Sydney * 2005 - Solander Gallery, Canberra * 2005 -

* 2013 - National Portrait Gallery, Canberra

Awards and distinctions

On 14 June 1969 Cassab was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in "recognition of service to the visual arts". On 26 January 1988 Cassab was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO) again in "recognition of service to the visual arts". On 3 March 1995 Cassab was awarded a

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

(

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

) from the

. In 2011 Cassab was awarded Hungary’s Gold Cross of Merit. *1955 - The Perth Prize *1955 - The Australian Women's Weekly Prize *1956 - The Australian Women's Weekly Prize *1961 - The Archibald Prize (portrait of Stanislaus Rapotec) *1964 - Sir Charles Lloyd Jones Memorial Prize *1964 - The Helena Rubenstein Prize, Perth *1965 - The Helena Rubenstein Prize, Perth *1965 - Sir Charles Lloyd Jones Memorial Prize *1968 - The Archibald Prize (portrait of Margo Lewers) *1971 - Sir Charles Lloyd Jones Memorial Prize *1973 - Sir Charles Lloyd Jones Memorial Prize *1994 - The Trustee Watercolour Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales *1994 - The Pring Prize, Art Gallery of NSW *1996 - The Nita Kibble Award for Literature, for ''Diaries'' *1996 - Foundation for Australian Literary Studies Award,

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

*1997 - The Pring Prize, Art Gallery of NSW *1998 - The Pring Prize, Art Gallery of NSW *2003 - The Pring Prize, Art Gallery of NSW *2003 - The Trustee Watercolour Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales *2004 - The Painters and Sculptors Association of Australia Medal

Personal life

Cassab died on 3 November 2015 at the age of 95 in her nursing home in the Sydney suburb of

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassab, Judy 1920 births 2015 deaths Australian Jews Australian people of Austrian-Jewish descent Australian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Austrian emigrants to Australia Austrian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Artists from Sydney Painters from Vienna Jewish Hungarian painters Jewish Australian painters Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Order of Australia 21st-century Australian painters Archibald Prize winners 20th-century Australian painters Australian modern painters 20th-century Australian women painters 21st-century Australian women painters Women's Art Register artists