Robert Hannaford Lynda Syddick Napaltjarri

Lynda Syddick Napaltjarri is an acclaimed Aboriginal artist. Born in the Gibson Desert near Lake McKay into the Pintubi tribe, she lived a nomadic existence for the first 11 years of her life. In 1948 she and her family walked out of the desert to Haast Bluff. Her Dreaming paintings are held in many important collections.

‘She spends some time in the country where I live so I’ve known her for a number of years though her English isn’t great,’ says Robert Hannaford. ‘She’s a wonderful person. I chose to paint her because I liked her face. I like her work too.’

The portrait was painted in Hannaford’s studio in Riverton, South Australia, over a long period of time – with maybe 15 sittings over two years, though most of it was painted this year. ‘She’s an excellent sitter,’ says Hannaford. ‘I’ve changed the painting quite a lot over that period. I did have a background of studio stuff, which I thought took away from her. I also had her holding her right hand up in the air in a way that was typical of her but I found that it raised too many questions and took away from the dignity of the face.’ The bright colours were just the clothes that she chose to wear.

Born in 1944, Hannaford lives and works in Riverton, South Australia. A largely self-taught artist, he is acclaimed for his portraits but also paints landscapes and nudes and is a sculptor. His sculpture of Sir Donald Bradman stands outside the Adelaide Oval. He won the Doug Moran Portrait Prize in 1990, the Fleurieu Landscape Prize in 1997 and the Archibald People’s Choice Prize in 1991, 1996 and 1998. He has been hung in the Archibald Prize 14 times in the past.