Judy Cassab (1920 -2015) was a leading Australian artist and the only woman artist to win the prestigious Archibald Prize for portraiture on two occasions. She also won the Wynne Prize for landscape painting several times. She had a long career, with over 70 career solo exhibitions. Her work is characterised by an expressionist style influenced by European modernists.

Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery Collections Policy (POL-034) identifies as a priority area of collecting: “Australian art: works acquired under this section of the policy reflect the broad directions in Australian art practice acquired through donation, purchase, transfer and bequest.” Additionally, a key objective of the policy is “to ensure the Collection includes high calibre contemporary and historical visual art and builds on the quality of the existing collection.” In 2012, Judy Cassab kindly donated two paintings to the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery – at this time she donated over 400 of her works to small Australian galleries. With this donation by Judy Cassab’s son Peter Kampfner of limited edition prints, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery is considerably extending its holdings of Cassab’s work. A donation such as this offers an enrichment of the collection that is difficult for the gallery to attain except through donation.

Printmaking was a significant aspect of Cassab’s art practice. In 1984 she compiled a portfolio of lithographs of leading Australian artists including Sidney Nolan and Lloyd Rees. This donation of 11 etchings and 1 lithograph are an excellent representation of her printmaking style and an important addition to the gallery’s collection.

[Written by Jo Besley, 7 February 2019]

Etching of a mother holding a sleeping infant.