This post commemorates the first anniversary of the death of Suzanne Twelftree, a dear friend to Richard Maurovic.
Maurovic says:
The idea for Portrait of Suzanne Twelftree (2006) was taken from Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait The Broken Column (1944). Kahlo painted it soon after she had spinal surgery, which had resulted from a serious bus accident, as an 18-year-old in 1925.
Suzanne Twelftree’s detached spine required her to wear a plastic brace in order for her to sit upright. The painting well depicts Suzanne’s determined character: fixing a stoic, steely gaze directly at the viewer in a field of ripening barley on her farm on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula. In 2006, Portrait of Suzanne Twelftree was awarded first prize in the Royal South Australian Society of Arts’ 150th anniversary art prize.
Portrait of Suzanne Twelftree (2006) // Acrylic on canvas // 70cm x 110cm
Collection: Royal South Australian Society of Arts, Adelaide