Lindsay Bernard Hall The yellow dress

This is one of six Archibald Prize portraits the artist Lindsay Bernard Hall (1859-1935) entered in the prize between 1921 and 1930. Hall had exhibited the work in the Australian Art Association’s annual exhibition held at Athenaeum Gallery, 29 October to 14 November 1930. It was then featured in Art in Australia in its review of the 1930 Archibald Prize, published in February 1931.

Following the artist’s death in London in February 1935, a memorial exhibition was held in June 1936 at Illawarra, the private home of Mrs JF Churton in Toorak, Melbourne. The critic (and former Wynne Prize entrant), Harold Herbert commented in The Argus newspaper: 'A favourite of mine is The Yellow Dress, a painting in which the easy, nonchalant pose of the figure and the brilliant painting of satin are thoroughly satisfying’.

Nothing is known about the subject of this portrait, including the name of the sitter.