Michael Boddy (1934–2014), writer and farmer, was a graduate of Cambridge University. In 1960, he arrived in Australia as a 'ten pound Pom', and worked in theatre, television, radio and film as a writer, actor and director. A bio-dynamic farmer since 1974, he now writes about farming, horticulture, natural history, food, consumer affairs and scientific matters. About Summer 1986 Michael Boddy said: "It was painted alla prima in one three-hour session on a very hot day. I was asleep on a sheet on the studio couch. Janet, my wife, came in to get a large stretched canvas to do a landscape. I said it was big enough to get all of me into it. She told me to stay put, set up at once, and got me all into it, plus the dog. A human landscape. My only stipulation was that I should be awake, conscious of the viewer, and not at all welcoming. I much prefer it to the Archibald Prize-winner she did of me in 1973."
Purchased 2000, part gift of Michael Boddy
© Janet Dawson/Copyright Agency, 2024
Michael Boddy (1 portrait)
Michael Boddy (1 portrait supported)
Janet Dawson’s painting of Michael Boddy gives paws for thought
The Australian, 26 November 2016
Bronwyn Watson writes about Summer 1986 for the Popular Pet Show.
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
How seven portraits within Bare reveal in a public portrait parts of the body and elements of life usually located in the private sphere.
Joanna Gilmour explores the life and art of the Australian artist Janet Dawson.
