Artist Mathew Lynn lives and works in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney Australia.  He is primarily known as a portrait painter in oils, working on public and private commissions in Australia and the UK.  He is also known through his entries in the Archibald Prize for Portraiture, held annually at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Australia.  His portraits can be found in major institutions, including the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, and he has been included on the register of artists for the Historic Memorials Committee (Australia Council for the Arts).

He also paints landscapes, which focus on transitory mood and atmosphere, inspired by where he lives and places he has visited on his travels in Australia and abroad.  His figurative works follow on from his interest in portraiture and he also draws using a three-colour Conte Crayon method on brown paper.

In addition to his commission work, Mathew Lynn is currently working on two portrait projects; a series of portraits for the Royal New South Wales Regiment, and a series of portraits depicting descendants and elders from the Blue Mountains Aboriginal Community.  He is also developing a series of figurative pictures which use his Heiress portraits as a point of departure. 

In June 2010 he won the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award (held at the Bega Valley Regional Gallery), for his portrait of sinologist and author Pierre Ryckmans.  This was  judged by writer and art critic John McDonald. Scroll down for more current news and recent projects. 

For enquiries, find contact details at the bottom of each page

News  2010

Pierre Ryckmans (Simon Leys)

Renowned scholar, sinologist and author, Simon Leys is the pen-name of Pierre Ryckmans, who was born in Belgium and settled in Australia in 1970.  He taught Chinese Literature at the Australian National University and was Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Sydney from 1987 to 1993. 

His books include The Life and Work of Su Renshan, Rebel, Painter and Madman, Chinese Shadows, Other People’s Thoughts, The Death of Napoleon, The Wreck of the Batavia & Prosper and Simon Leys with Stendhal.

He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities and a member of the Académie Royal de Littérature Française (Belgium).  He has been the recipient of many literary awards, including the Prix Renaudot (France), Prix Henri Gal (Académie Française), Prix Fémina (100th Anniversary, Ministry of Culture, France), Prix Quinquernal de Littérature (Ministry of Culture, Belgium), Prix Del Duca, Académie Française and Prix Leygues, Académie de Marine (France).  He is also a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books, Le Figaro Littéraire and The Monthly.  In 1996 he delivered the ABC’s Boyer Lectures The View From the Bridge - Aspects of Culture.

This is the second of two portraits of Pierre Ryckmans by Mathew Lynn and was painted in early 2010.

Update: This portrait was the winner of the 2010 Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, held at the Bega Valley Regional Gallery June 4 to July 3, and was judged by writer and art critic John McDonald.

Jeanne Ryckmans, 1997

Mathew Lynn

Heiress II, 2009

Heiress, 2009