David Van Nunen Portrait of the artist with Fauve

When his work was chosen for the 1996 Archibald exhibition, David Van Nunen remarked: 'Just as writers write about their lives in order to examine the events and influences which have brought them to where they are now, so a painter paints about his life in order to reassess it.’ This work forms part of a series of memory paintings, looking back on moments in his life which have in some way or other helped to make him who he is.

Having had an interest in Fauvism over many years, Van Nunen was prompted to do this portrait by a recent travelling Fauves exhibition in Australia. 'But it is not only about the relationship of colours,’ he says, 'but about my relationship with my dog Sam, a big, powerful, active animal.’