Paul Fitzgerald (painter)

Paul Fitzgerald AM
Born	Paul Desmond Fitzgerald (1922-08-02)2 August 1922 Hawthorn, Victoria
Nationality	Australian
Education	National Gallery of Victoria Art School
Occupation	Portrait artist
Military career
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1943–1946
Rank	Sergeant
Service number	VX126647
Unit	5 Machine Gun Battalion

Paul Desmond Fitzgerald AM (born 2 August 1922 in Hawthorn, Victoria) is an Australian portrait painter and has painted more people of distinction than any other living Australian artist.

Background

Fitzgerald was born the second son of Frank Fitzgerald and Margaret née Poynton. Frank Fitzgerald was a journalist with The Age for approximately ten years and about eight years with The Argus. He periodically filled the roles of general reporting, leader writing, political correspondent, art critic, music critic, theatre critic and motoring editor.

A Catholic, Fitzgerald was educated at Xavier College in Melbourne (1933–1939) and studied for five years at the National Gallery School (1940–43 and 1946–47), interrupted for three and a half years in the Army during World War II (1943–46).

Professional career

When he is painting away from his studio in Melbourne, he usually lives with the subjects of his portraiture. He lived and painted overseas from 1949 to 1957 and visited and worked overseas on commissioned portraits twice each year since 1958 including America, England, Scotland, Ireland, Jersey, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Hawaii and Bermuda. He has also painted throughout Australia.

Fitzgerald has been a finalist for the Archibald Prize for portraiture on multiple occasions including 1958 (with a portrait of Justice R. V. Monahan), in 1962 (with portraits of each of Sir Reg Ansett and Sir Robert Menzies), and in 1972 (with a portrait of Sir Henry Bolte).

In 1997 Fitzgerald was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia and a Knight of Malta. He founded the Australian Guild of Realist Artists, where he is a Life Member of the Council, and was president for seven years. Fitzgerald was a member of "Portraits Incorporated’ in America, is a trustee of the A.M.E. Bale Scholarship and produced the art book ‘Australian Realist and Impressionist Artists’, donating the profits to charity.

Known works

Fitzgerald's work was prolific and the following are known substantial subjects of portraiture by the artist:

• Queen Elizabeth II in 1967, in 1977 being the only official portrait in her Silver Jubilee year, and one other portrait, date unknown
• Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1976, plus one other portrait, date unknown
• Charles, Prince of Wales, two portraits, dates unknown
• Pope John XXIII
• The Duke of Kent, two portraits, dates unknown
• Sir William Hesseltine, Secretary to the Queen
• King Hisamuddin of Malaysia
• Two identical 6 feet (1.8 m) portraits of the Rajah Muda, son of the Sultan of Selangor
• Prince and Princess Von Baden (Germany)
• Two Cardinals, including Cardinal James Knox, four Archbishops including Daniel Mannix, and two Bishops
• The Duke of Westminster; a Marquess; three Earls; two Viscounts; four Barons
• Two Governors-General of Australia, two Australian Prime Ministers, including Sir Robert Menzies, six Australian State Governors, two Australian State Premiers, including a portrait of Sir Henry Bolte
• Fourteen Supreme Court Judges, including portraits of the ten judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria between 1964 and 1965 (who were Sir Edmund Herring, Sir Charles Lowe, Sir Norman O’Bryan, Sir Arthur Dean, Sir Reginald Sholl, Thomas W. Smith AC, Sir Edward Hudson, Sir Robert Monahan, Sir Douglas Little, and Sir Alistair Adam) and six Chiefs of Air Staff
• Two presidents of the Australian Colleges of Surgeons, three of the College of Physicians: one the College of Anaesthetics and three of the College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology; two presidents of the English Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Three University Chancellors; nine Boys' College Principals; three Girls' College Principals
• Three Presidents of the Melbourne Cricket Club; seven Presidents of the Victorian Football League and three Chief Executives; two presidents the Australian Football League
• Five presidents of the Board of Governors of the New York Hospital; the Executive Director of the New York Hospital
• World Chairman of Citibank (who was also president of the New York Metropolitan Opera), Conrad Hilton (Hilton Hotels), Glenn Ford (Film Star), Vivien Leigh, Maria Callas (posthumously)
• Two Australian Motor Racing Champions
• Bruno and Reno Grollo
• Sporting champions including Norman Brooks (post.), Lew Hoad, Neale Fraser, Allan Border, John Nichols, Lionel Rose
• The first three Racehorses of the Year for Victorian Racing Commission - Rain Lover, Gay Icarus, Vain
• Portraits of Lord Trout, Roy Trout (1974), and Jane Nathan (1958)

Personal life

Shortly after returning to Australia in 1957, Fitzgerald married Mary Parker, who was born in Bitton, Gloucestershire and, as a child, had emigrated with her family to Melbourne. Parker's brother, Lieutenant–Commander Michael Parker, was a former private secretary to Prince Philip. Mary Parker attended Genezzano Convent then returned to England and established a successful career as a film actress and television announcer. She returned to Australia with HSV-7 in 1956 to cover the television coverage of the Melbourne Olympic Games and is considered to be the first woman on Australian television, having appeared in their test broadcasts and as a newsreader on their opening night, alongside Eric Pearce (later Sir Eric). Parker retired in 1957 and with Fitzgerald they have seven children; Fabian (born 1959), Marisa (born 1961), Patrick (born 1963, since deceased), Emma (born 1965), Edward (born 1969), Maria (born 1971) and Frances (born 1973).

Fitzgerald's hobbies include tennis, music and reading; and he is a member of the Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club.

References

• Who's Who of Australia - Margaret Gee Publishing