We contacted Dr Hugh Wirth a few months ago, because we respect and admire him so much and decided we would just love to paint him for the Archibald Art Prize this year.
Dr Hugh Wirth is one of Australia’s foremost animal welfare advocates. He was inspired to join the RSPCA as a junior member in 1948 after the secretary visited his school. He went on to train as a vet and has now been a council member for RSPCA Victoria since 1969, and President since 1972. He has devoted some 50,000 volunteer hours to ensure the welfare of animals. He is former president of the World Society for the Protection of Animals and was the first non-European to hold the position.
In 1988, Dr Wirth was the first Australian to receive the prestigious George T Angell Humanitarian Award, presented to an individual with exceptional commitment to animals and their quality of life and who has had a profound influence on public attitudes to animals. Dr Wirth has dedicated his life to giving a voice to the voiceless.
We flew down to Melbourne the weekend of the 14th January 2012 to meet him, our children Jessie and Ben came too. He lives near Marc's mum in Melbourne so he wasn't hard to find, and we hired a car from the airport to get there. We met him at 2pm together with his family of 2 terrier dogs and 2 cats. We were invited into his sitting room where we chatted about our ideas, and asked questions. He came across a really lovely man, very humble after everything he has achieved.
We did some sketches and took reference shots, we have come up with an awesome idea, and will post the painting once it is completed.
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