David Fairbairn (born 1949), is an Australian painter and printmaker who was the winner of the
Dobell Prize for Drawing in 1999. He has been selected as a Dobell Prize Finalist fifteen times, won the
Doug Moran National Portrait Prize
The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize is an annual Australian portrait prize founded by Doug Moran in 1988, the year of Australian Bicentenary, Australia's Bicentenary. It is the richest portrait prize in the world with A$150,000 awarded to th ...
in 2002 and has been exhibited in 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 ...
eight times. Fairbairn teaches at the
National Art School
The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts ...
, Sydney.
Personal life
David Fairbairn was born in
Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
, Africa in 1949. Following his schooling he did an honours degree in Fine Art then earned a postgraduate scholarship to
Royal Academy School of Art, London, attending from 1974-1977. He moved to Australia in 1979. He lives in
Wedderburn Wedderburn may refer to:
People
* Alexander Wedderburn (disambiguation)
* Bill Wedderburn, Baron Wedderburn of Charlton (1927–2012), British politician and legal scholar
* Charles F. Wedderburn (1892–1917), United States Navy officer
* David ...
, a small town on the
Georges River
The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated Ria, drowned valley estuary, that is located in Sydney, Australia. The Georges River is located south and south-west from the Sydney central business district, w ...
south of Sydney, with his wife, the artist and Dobell Prize winner,
Suzanne Archer, who is featured in much of his work.
Career
After a legal dispute between the Tweed Shire Council and the administrators of the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize resulted in the earliest winning artworks being separated from others,
Fairbairn's 2002 winning portrait of his wife is the earliest displayed in the current Moran prize collection.
Fairbairn's most recent Art work was the one that he called Large head JB no 1
References
External links
National Art School, SydneyStella Downer Art DealerABC News - Archibald finalists 2012Campbelltown Gallery - David FairbairnDesign and Art Australia online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbairn, David
1949 births
Living people
20th-century Australian painters
21st-century Australian painters
Doug Moran National Portrait Prize winners
Archibald Prize finalists
20th-century Zambian painters
21st-century Zambian painters
Zambian emigrants to Australia
Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools