Donald Friend is considered one of the most gifted draughtsman in Australian art.
He studied at the Royal Australian Art College (Sydney) under Datillo Rubbo, and the Westminster Art School (London).
Donald Friend was widely traveled, visiting Nigeria in 1938, then serving in Morotai, Borneo and Laubuan in 1945 as an official War artist. He also visited Italy, Columbia and Sri Lanka. Donald Friend is associated with Bali where he settled permanently between 1967-1982 and his work from this period is highly collectable.
In the late 40’s and early 50’s at Hill End, he painted with Margaret Olley and Russell Drysdale.
A winner of the Blake prize in 1955, Donald Friend was also awarded the University of Sydney medal for services to art in 1988.
His works have been shown in major exhibitions in Australia, Europe and America and a major retrospective of his work was mounted by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1990.
Donald Friend is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, all State galleries, many regional and institutional collections, and is widely collected throughout the world.
Donald Friend Paintings
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