Nigel Thomson (1945–1999) was an Australian artist who won 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. Known for satirical paintings of Australian society. He studied at the

Julian Ashton Art School The Julian Ashton Art School was established by Julian Ashton in 1890 as the "Academy Julian", (perhaps a reference to the Académie Julian in Paris) has been an influential art school in Australia. For a long time it was known as the Sydney Art ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and later taught artistic composition at that institution. He was art tutor at the Royal Academy of Art in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. He won the Archibald with '' Chandler Coventry'' in 1983, and ''

Barbara Blackman Barbara Blackman (née Patterson; 22 December 1928 – 4 October 2024) was an Australian writer and essayist, poet, librettist, radio broadcaster and interviewer, artist, artist's model and activist and philanthropist, who was a patron of the ...

'' in 1997. Thomson's painting of Patrick White's long-term partner, Manoly Lascaris was rejected from the 1995 Archibald and hung in the

Salon des Refusés The Salon des Refusés, French for "exhibition of rejects" (), is generally known as an exhibition of works rejected by the jury of the official Paris Salon, but the term is most famously used to refer to the Salon des Refusés of 1863. Today, ...

. He won the Sulman Prize in 1983 with ''Marat, The Unsophisticated will be Shocked by the Depiction of your Death: or, the Artist Answers His Critics''. This painting was based on

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

's famous painting '' Death of Marat'' showing

Jean-Paul Marat Jean-Paul Marat (, , ; born Jean-Paul Mara; 24 May 1743 – 13 July 1793) was a French political theorist, physician, and scientist. A journalist and politician during the French Revolution, he was a vigorous defender of the ''sans-culottes ...

dead in a bathtub. He jointly won the Sulman Prize in 1986 along with

Wendy Sharpe Wendy Sharpe (born 24 February 1960) is an Australian artist who lives and works in Sydney and Paris. She has had many solo exhibitions nationally and internationally, been awarded many national awards and artist residencies for her work, an ...

, for ''The State Institution''.

References

External links

Oral history interview with Thomson held by the National Library of Australia

Official Website: http://www.nigelthomson.com 1945 births 1999 deaths Archibald Prize winners 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Academic staff of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague Julian Ashton Art School alumni Australian portrait painters Australian male painters {{Australia-painter-stub