JUDY CASSAB
Vienna, Austria | 1920-2015
Judy Cassab AO CBE was one of Australia's most celebrated portrait painters, renowned for capturing not only the likeness of her sitters but also their character and presence. Over a remarkable career she became a prominent figure in Australian art and twice won the prestigious Archibald Prize.
Born in Vienna, Cassab studied art in Prague and Budapest. During the Second World War she survived Nazi-occupied Hungary using false identity papers, before emigrating to Sydney with her family in 1951. She quickly established herself in Australian artistic circles, holding her first Australian solo exhibition in 1953 and becoming a highly sought-after portraitist.
Cassab won the Archibald Prize in 1960 for her portrait of artist Stanislaus Rapotec and again in 1967 for her portrait of Margo Lewers. Beyond portraiture, the landscapes of the Northern Territory inspired a freer, more abstract side of her work. Her portraits and landscapes together established an enduring record of both Australian people and place.
