PORTRAITURE:
The artist who painted former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s official portrait now hanging in Parliament House in Canberra has given a preview of his latest work commemorating Scott Morrison as the nation’s leader.
The sneak peek of the new work by Ralph Heimans coincides with the discovery in his Rudd portrait of a previously overlooked visual reference to the ex-PM’s time in office.
Heimans said he was pleased with the public response to his painting of Rudd which was not a traditional “head and shoulders” portrait.
The portrait incudes a chess set, the Rudd family cat, Chinese vases, and a framed copy of the 2008 apology to the stolen generations.
But a keen-eyed visitor to Parliament House has also noticed a possible reference to another prime minister, Julia Gillard, in the title of a book Heimans included on the desk in front of Rudd in the portrait. (below)
When asked about the book title, Heimans refused to comment other than to say he always attempted in his portraits to capture all relevant elements of a sitter’s life and career.
He took the opportunity to illustrate his point by showing his latest commission, an official portrait of Australia’s 30th prime minister, Scott Morrison. (main picture)
“The Morrison work will be nothing like any of the previous portraits I have done because it won’t feature a physical representation of him at all,” Heimans explained.
“Instead, I have chosen to represent the former Liberal Party PM with a series of objects evoking his personality and leadership.
“There’s reference to pork barrelling of course, and naturally I included a Hawaiian lei as a reminder of the leadership he showed in the massive 2019-2020 summer bushfires emergency.
“The portrait is dominated by a huge turd lying in an office, which I have included as a subtle visual clue to the fact that Morrison will always be remembered as being a huge lying turd in office.
“As well as out of office too,” he added.
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