Biography

Jan Williamson is a professional artist who specialises in portraiture and figurative work.

As one of Australia’s premier portrait artists, Jan’s work portrays people and intimate studies of children, playing on the beach, or engrossed in their own world, oblivious to the influences around them.

Her portraits have been selected as finalists in all the major Australian exhibitions. A finalist five times in the Archibald Prize, and winning the Packing Room Prize for two consecutive years with portraits of Jenny Morris and Rachel Ward (2002, 2003), and the People’s Choice Award in 2002 for her portrait of Morris. She has been a finalist on two occasions in the Portia Geach Memorial Award and exhibited in the Salon des Refuses, and the 2000 Sporting Portrait Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW.

Her subjects have included; Tom Carroll, Jenny Morris, Rachel Ward, Wayne Bennett, David Williamson, Collette Dinnigan, Anne Geddes, INXS’s Andrew Farris, Sue McPherson, Vice Chancellor of Deakin University, Professor Sally Walker, Dr Eddie Liu, Father of Chinatown, Brisbane.

Nancy Kunoth Petyarr (2009 Archibald finalist portrait subject), Kathleen and Poly Ngal are a few of the famous, senior indigenous artists from Utopia, NT, that Jan has had the privilege to paint.

Jan is also a foundation and exhibiting member of Portrait Artists Australia, an association launched in 2001 to promote portraiture in Australia.