Paul Haefliger Georgia Lee

This portrait by Paul Haefliger depicts Ramer Lyra 'Dulcie’ Pitt (1921–2010), an actress and jazz and blues singer with diverse heritage, of Scottish, Jamaican, Kanak (Loyalty Islands), Afghan, Aboriginal Kalkodoon and Torres Strait Islander descent, who performed under the name Georgia Lee.

Growing up in Malaytown in Gimuy/Cairns, at the time this portrait was painted, according to newspaper reports, Dulcie was studying at the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney and was well-known in art circles. She supported her studies as a featured vocalist at Gleneagles Restaurant in Kings Cross.

Of her time in Sydney, she told one journalist:

'When you are coloured and living by yourself in a city like Sydney you make your own hobbies … The public perhaps does not realise that we have to be particularly careful what we do, where we go, with whom we are seen. However, I have many charming friends in Sydney, and I swim, and sail, too, most weekends, thanks to them’.