Eric Wilson Matron MacIntosh

Lucy Wise MacIntosh (1884–1974), the subject of this portrait by Eric Wilson, was a highly respected and dedicated nurse. She received the Royal Red Cross Decoration in 1918 for her work at London’s Harefield Hospital during World War I (and later, in 1965, the Red Cross Florence Nightingale Medal for her exceptional devotion in the humanitarian sphere).

Brought up in what was then semi-rural Liverpool, outside Sydney, Wilson trained at the Julian Ashton Art School before winning the 1937 NSW Travelling Art Scholarship. In London, he studied at the Royal Academy and Westminster School, then travelled to Europe and attended artist Amédée Ozenfant’s school in Paris, absorbing the tenets of French cubism. Wilson returned to Sydney in 1939, following the outbreak of World War II. As a conscientious objector, he became a ward attendant at Lidcombe State Hospital, where he made emotionally expressive studies of the residents in the geriatric wards. While posted there, he met MacIntosh, who was matron of the hospital for more than two decades.

His portrait of her is now in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia with the title Matron MacIntosh, Lidcombe Hospital.