Refugee barracks, Northam, Western Australia

The barracks at Northam in Western Australia where Wlad was sent in 1949, 100 kms north-east of Perth. The sketch shows two emus in the composition. Part of a series relating to his stay in Western Australia

Wladyslaw Dutkiewicz was born in Poland on 2 February 1918. He studied painting at the Academy of Art in Krakow and won a scholarship to the L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He also studied Stanislavsky's acting method and took a university degree in drama and stage design. During World War II he fought with the Polish resistance and escaped from two concentration camps. As a displaced person in Hohenfels camp near Parsberg in Germany he taught art and theatre studies and was camp leader for some time.

He came to Australia in 1949 by the ship Anna Salen and became established in Adelaide as one of Australia's leading modernist artists. Between 1951 and 1995 he held over 40 one-man and major exhibitions and contributed to over 40 mixed exhibitions in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, London and Canada. He won the Cornell Prize in 1951 and 1955 and was runner-up in 1953.

The Dutkiewicz home/gallery at Dulwich was the scene for regular salons of artists, writers, actors and musicians and art patrons. Wlad established his own Art Studio Players and presented theatre productions in Adelaide in 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1960s he acted in several Crawford Productions television series. With wife Joan (nee Watson) he had five children Michal, Adam, Ursula, Anna and Cecilia. He died after an illness on 2 October 1999.

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