Rebecca and her children

The story behind Rebecca and her children

Portraiture carries a particular weight when the subject is someone known personally. Rebecca Parker was a friend, and when the opportunity arose to paint her with her children, it felt like the right thing to do. She was thrilled — genuinely, unambiguously thrilled — at the idea of being the subject of a serious painting. That response meant something.

The painting was completed in 2008 and entered into the Archibald Prize, Australia’s most prominent portrait award. The entry fee, the packing, the freight to Sydney and back — none of it is cheap. Rebecca knew the effort that went into the submission and it added to her delight. The painting did not make the cut, which will surprise no one familiar with the Archibald’s long tradition of rewarding the inexplicable while overlooking the accomplished. It is, at this point, less an art prize than an annual exercise in institutional taste-making — the art world equivalent of charging an entry fee to pick the best color.

Rebecca Parker passed away in 2017. The painting remains in private hands. Whatever the Archibald made of it, she loved it. That counts for more.

Source image of realism painting Rebecca and her children