William Pidgeon Miss Dorothy Lees

Dorothy Lees worked at the Art Gallery of NSW, as an assistant to both the director and the assistant director and on the Gallery’s touring exhibitions.

William Pidgeon submitted his portrait of her to the 1953 Archibald Prize at the last moment. Lees commented about having to pose for a final time on the morning of the last day for entry, a hot summer day, in her heavy winter coat.

Some time after the Archibald exhibition, the portrait was badly damaged. It was restored by the artist and its appearance is nearly identical to the original. The work is now in the WE Pidgeon Archives in the National Library of Australia.

Lees and Pidgeon would later marry, after the death of Pidgeon’s first wife, and another portrait of her, with the name Dorothy Pidgeon, would be exhibited in the 1969 Archibald.