Portraits

back to gallery

Murch was a prolific portrait painter. See more works in Archibald Prize and Central Australia 1933/34 and Central Australia 1964

Gwen Stockton 1925 Oil on canvas 109 x 89cms

Gwen Stockton, aged 11 in 1925, was a neighbour of Arthur’s family in Croydon Park, Sydney Arthur took this photograph of her to aid with the painting of the portrait

Arthur and Gwen Bartlett (nee Stockton) mid 1980’s

W J Cockerill 1923 oil on canvas. William Cockerill was a fellow apprentice at John Heine & Son Ltd. Peter Cockerill collection

Hedley Marston 1931 pencil on paper

Professor Charles Martin, Adelaide 1933 pencil on paper

The portraits of Ladipo and Reniko were painted in Glasgow in c1937. The pair were boxers from Trinidad who worked with Murch and the team on the Australian Wool Pavilion at the 1938 Glasgow Empire Fair.

Ladipo 1936 oil on board 49 x 39 cm

Reniko 1936 oil on board 51 x 40 cm

Jean Appleton, London 1938 oil on strawboard 25 x 30 cm

The following three works: Swiss boy and two portraits of Pat Thornton were completed during a European camping trip Murch undertook with fellow artists Wallace Thornton and Pat Thornton. The Sydney Morning Herald in April, 1940 wrote of the adventure with the heading: “A Home-made Car and Six Arrests…Young Australian Artists’ Experiences in Europe”. They ended up stranded for six weeks in the Bois de la Batie park in Geneva during a cold winter with no money or food with a war on the way. They painted portraits for locals in exchange for food; Murch cut up the hood of the car and used the canvas on which to paint – see portrait below of Pat Thornton.

Swiss Boy 1939 oil on canvas 39 x 29 cm Meg Stewart collection

Pat Thornton 1939 pencil on paper 18 x 15 cm Murch estate

Pat Thornton 1939 oil on canvas car hood 45 x 43 cm

Phyllis Brodziak c1939 oil on canvas 63.5 x 49.5 cm Murch estate

Murch painted this portrait of Phyllis Brodziak (1916 – 1967) circa 1939, soon after he returned from Europe.

Arthur Murch was friends with Lionel Treglown – they both came from Croydon, NSW and worked together at John Heine Engineering. Lionel married Phyllis Brodziak in Sydney in 1937.

Online searches for “Phyllis Brodziak” reveal she was a competitor in motor races and car trials 1934. See details here.

Phyllis later studied etching and became a painter and teacher at the Royal Art Society, Sydney.

Murch also did a pencil drawing of Phyllis and her son and a portrait of the son who I understand was named Tom.

Phyllis Treglown née Brodziak with son c1942 pencil on paper

Son of Lionel Treglown and Phyllis Brodziak c1942 oil on board 38 x 30 cm Murch estate

Maxine Maxwell Gumbleton c1940 oil on board 38.5 x 29 cm

Wilma

Study of Barbara Wentworth 1940’s or early 1950’s oil on card 48 x 40 cm Murch estate

Portrait study of Barbara Wentworth née Baird 1940’s or early 1950’s oil on canvas 77 x 67 cm Murch estate

Unknown woman – inscribed “With regards from Arthur Murch” oil on board 54 x 43 cm

Head of Icarus 1940’s oil on board 40.5 x 33 cm Private collection

Julie Pawnceby c1950 oil on board 46 x 36 cm

Penny Fuller c1955 crayon 37 x 29 cm

Unknown subject crayon on paper

Natasha Davies 1955, oil on board. Natasha is the daughter of eminent biochemist Victor Trikojus who was a classmate of Murch’s at Sydney Technical High School in 1916