Portrait of the artist’s wife by Joseph Furlonger

Joe Furlonger is one of Australia’s most celebrated and respected artists. Known for his bold use of colour, expressive brushwork and evocative depictions of the human figure, landscapes and still life, his distinctive style has been honed over four decades.

This is a portrait of his wife, Heidi Furlonger, who became part of his broader meditation on form, history and presence, sparked unexpectedly by a trip to the hairdresser.

“I draw on a multitude of sources, mostly from past art from everywhere. I have been painting this series of heads for five or six years now while looking at archaeology programs on Roman and Greco-Roman Early Renaissance church panels and frescoes. Also, English Tudor portraits – dark backgrounds with contrasting light figures – all painted under African wood carved figures in my studio. My wife came home with a new hairstyle and that became the subject for these ‘studies’ or portraits.”