Julia Gillard AC (b. 1961) was the 27th Prime Minister of Australia. After graduating in Arts and Law from the University of Melbourne, she joined the law firm Slater & Gordon in 1987. She took up the position of Chief of Staff to then Victorian Opposition Leader, John Brumby, in 1996 and two years later was elected to the House of Representatives. By late 2006 she was Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Gillard became Deputy Prime Minister following Labor's victory in the 2007 Federal election, and in June 2010 defeated Kevin Rudd in a leadership ballot, becoming Australia's first female Prime Minister. Among her most significant achievements as Prime Minister are the introduction of a price on carbon, disability care, education reforms, and the Royal Commission on institutional child abuse. On 26 June 2013 she lost the leadership in a spill to Rudd; she resigned the following day.
Peter Brew-Bevan took this last official portrait of Julia Gillard as Prime Minister. 'This image was taken on the Monday of the June long weekend, right when the grab for office began … she is an amazingly strong woman … what must have been going through her mind at the time of this photograph – still to allow her vulnerability to show through is quite remarkable and a true testament to her stoic nature.'
Gift of the artist 2013
© Peter Brew-Bevan
This portrait of Julia Gillard was taken by Peter Brew-Bevan in 2013. It is a type C photograph on paper, measuring about 90 centimetres tall by 75 centimetres wide.
In the photograph, Julia is shown from chest up, her elbows leaning on a table in front of her. A light bulb behind and above her head glows yellow amidst a dark blue background.
In the top centre of the portrait, the light bulb, out of focus, floats. It is suspended by an invisible cord. The centre of the light is bright white, surrounded by a perfectly round yellow-orange glass globe. The light only slightly illuminates pale smudges to either side on the flat dark surface of the background.
Julia's head is below the bulb. Julia's dark red hair is parted on the side with fine threads of copper curves framing her face in her signature bob cut, the ends coming in close around her jaw. Julia's face is angled slightly down and to the right. Light reflects off her forehead, nose and cheeks, washing out the colour and smoothing the skin. She has fine, light red-brown eyebrows, wide spaced and following the shape of her eyes. Beneath hooded lids and a delicate fringe of eyelashes painted with dark mascara, Julia looks up directly at us. Light picks out the brown-green in her left eye and brings out grey-blue in her right.
Julia has a slender straight nose, the tip angled down. There is a faint tinge of warm rouge on her cheek bones and a similar red gloss on her lips. Only the right edge of Julia's lips is visible, slightly upturned, and parted. Julia's entwined hands obscure the lower left of her face. Her palms touch in the centre beneath her chin, then her hands angle to her left, with the fingers loosely interlaced. The skin on her hands is pale, smooth and unblemished and her nails are neatly manicured with white tips.
A necklace of large round beads rests against of her neck, the beads’ soft lustre reflecting dark greys and golds.
Julia is wearing a brilliant-white business shirt, its winged collar undone to the second button, framing her necklace. It has long sleeves, the cuffs buttoned, fitting against her wrists and forearms.
Julia's elbows rest on a flat dark surface streaked by patches of white chalk dust.
Audio description written and read by Lucinda Shawcross
Peter Brew-Bevan (10 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.
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