Study for the portrait of Peter Elliott

Peter Elliott AM (1927–2014) was an obstetrician, gynaecologist and gynaecological oncologist as well as a significant art collector and patron. The son of a country doctor, Elliott grew up scrambling around the lush country near Bellingen, NSW; through his grandfather, who had taught Henry Lawson, family friends included artists Norman Lindsay, Elioth Gruner, Arthur Streeton and Lloyd Rees. After witnessing his father delivering the Sara quadruplets in 1950, he was inspired to become a doctor, and in 1958 went with his family to London to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology. He later became head of gynaecological oncology at King George V Hospital in Sydney, and president of both the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Asian and Oceanic Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. For many years, Elliott worked as a volunteer in Asia and Oceania, training local surgeons and often operating in open-air theatres with low light and sterility. In his spare time, he pursued his passion for art collecting, enjoying close relationships with gallery owners and artists including Fred Williams, Bill Robinson, Frank Hodgkinson and Russell Drysdale. He is credited with keeping many emerging artists in business through encouraging his friends to buy their works. Elliott was a significant philanthropist, although his gifts were mostly anonymous. In 2011 the SH Ervin Gallery mounted an exhibition of his collection, Up Close and Personal. Gavin Fry's book The Peter Elliott Collection was published in 2013. The Mossgreen auction of his collection in August–September 2015 was widely reported to have grossed more than seven million dollars.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Elliott
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program 2016
© Otte Bartzis