Reginald "Reg" Earl Campbell (2 March 1923 - 30 May 2008) was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n portrait painter and self-taught artist. He was a winner of the Archibald Prize, being awarded the 1990 People's Choice Award for his self-portrait.

Early years

Campbell was born in Gladesville, New South Wales

Gladesville, New South Wales

Gladesville is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Gladesville is located 9 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Ryde and the Municipality of Hunter's Hill and is part of the Northern Suburbs area.Gladesville prides...

, the son of Clare Campbell and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces at West Ryde in 1941, whilst residing in Eastwood

Eastwood, New South Wales

Eastwood is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Eastwood is located 17 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of the City of Ryde and the City of Parramatta...

. He served as a private in the General Transport Compant in New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

 and was discharged in 1945.

Art career

After military service, Campbell moved to Bathurst, New South Wales

Bathurst, New South Wales

-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...

 in the 1950s, working initially as a signwriter, and later moved to live in a peaceful rural setting, outside Bathurst, where he established his gallery and completed some of his most accomplished portraits. Some of those works include the portraits of two of Bathurst’s best-known faces, those of the late Dr Brooke-Moore and former long-serving Member for Bathurst, Gus Kelly

Gus Kelly (politician)

Christopher Augustus "Gus" Kelly was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1925 to 1932 and again from 1935 until his death in 1967, representing the electorate of Bathurst...

, whose portraits have hung for years in the foyer of the Bathurst Civic Centre. Lesser-known works are the portraits that Mr Campbell painted of two other personalities of his generation, a young radio broadcaster John Laws

John Laws

Richard John Sinclair "John" Laws, CBE , an Australian radio presenter, sometimes known as Lawsie, was from the 1970s until his retirement in 2007, the host of a hugely successful morning radio program, which mixed music with interviews, opinion, live advertising readings and listener talkback...

 and the television games show personality, Bob Dyer

Bob Dyer

Robert "Bob" Dies OBE , who took the stage name of Bob Dyer, was an American-born vaudeville entertainer, radio personality, and radio and television quiz show host who made his name in Australia. Dyer is best known for the long-running radio and then television quiz show, Pick a Box...

.

One of the largest works painted by Campbell was commissioned by Bathurst Rotary

Rotary International

Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...

 to celebrate the 100th Royal Bathurst Show, a massive painting of the Bathurst Showground showing all of the historic buildings with parachutists landing in the ground. Testimony to his mastery are the commissions to paint the portraits of many prominent figures in Australia and overseas including approximately 100 knights of the realm, 23 vice regal portraits in Denmark, nine bishops and archbishops and hundreds of other famous personalities including Don Bradman, Albert Namatjira

Albert Namatjira

Albert Namatjira , born Elea Namatjira, was an Australian artist. He was a Western Arrernte man, an Indigenous Australian of the Western MacDonnell Ranges area...

 and Sir Garfield Barwick

Garfield Barwick

Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, was the Attorney-General of Australia , Minister for External Affairs and the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia...

.

Campbell painted numerous portraits for the Charles Sturt University

Charles Sturt University

Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus university located in New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory. It has campuses at Bathurst, Canberra, Albury-Wodonga, Dubbo, Goulburn, Orange, Wagga Wagga and Burlington, Ontario...

and its precursor institutions, namely:

• Evan Arthur Byron (Sam) Phillips
• Jack and Dr Colleen McDonough (double portrait)
• Professor John Maxwell Collins
• Emeritus Professor Cliff Blake, AO

Campbell was a mentor for artist, Doug Sealy and is survived by Betty-Ann, Eden, David, Joshua Campbell, Stephen and Katie Scott.