First official war artist portraits gifted to Australian War Memorial
The family of William Dunstan VC has donated two portraits by Australia’s first official war artist, Will Dyson, to the Australian War Memorial.
The portraits, one of Dunstan and the other of his son William Dunstan Jr as a young boy, have been cared for by the family for almost 100 years.
They have now been gifted to the Memorial by Dunstan Jr’s late wife, Patricia.
Director of the Australian War Memorial, Matt Anderson said: “This bequest is a generous and significant addition to our collection of material from the Dunstan family, which provides an invaluable record of one Australian family’s wartime service. These drawings bring these records to life.”
“The portraits hold additional significance due to their artist, given Will Dyson’s important legacy, both as Australia’s first official war artist and for his role in shaping the vision for the Australian War Memorial.”
Dyson and Dunstan lived on the same street in Melbourne in the late 1920s.
Matthew Dunstan, son of Patricia and William Jr, said: “Will Dyson lived just over the back from the Dunstan's, and the ‘two Bills’ were good friends. Dad remembered being sent to sit for his portrait, albeit a bit unwillingly.”
The Memorial already holds William Dunstan VC’s medals, and letters from the Second World War between father and son.
Matthew’s sister, Marsha said: “The correspondence between our grandfather and our father shows a close relationship between the two with William senior closely following his son’s involvement through the Second World War as it progressed.”
The drawings will join other works by Will Dyson in the Memorial’s National Collection.
“We’re very grateful to Mrs Dunstan and her family for entrusting these portraits to us,” Anthea Gunn, Senior Curator of Art at the Memorial said.
“The drawings are a record of the bond between two men who both knew the reality of war, and an innocent child who would all too soon find out.”
William Dunstan was awarded the VC for his actions at Lone Pine. A reserved man, he endured rather than enjoyed the press attention. Postwar he was a leader in the business side of newspapers.
William Jr served in the AIF in the Middle East, and then the British Army, during the Second World War.
The portraits of William Dunstan VC and William Jr.
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