By Frank Walker


The Archibalds are on again and, true to form, there is a controversy.

This time it is a nude politician, nuggety 70-year-old Labor stalwart, stirrer and freethinker John Button who appears in the buff as Rodin's Thinker on the steps of Old Parliament House in Canberra.

The Archibald Prize judging committee meets today to start going through the 550 portrait entries before announcing the winner on March 21.

The former Senate leader in the Hawke government is bemused at the fuss over his portrait, which even his five-year-old granddaughter Lola dubbed "naughty".

There he was, a nude politician, just paintings away from Jeff Kennett in a grey suit.


But John Button isn't what people think. The first thing he did when he saw the finished portrait was to thank artist Carmel O'Connor for the muscles.

"I think it is a good painting. It took me a while to reach that decision. It is unusual to see yourself painted in the posture she chose," he said yesterday.

He never dreamed of sitting naked on the steps of Old Parliament House, but admits to sunbathing on the roof when he was a senator: "And I wasn't naked."

Nor was he naked when he posed for this portrait. Bathers protected his privacy.

It's just as well he covered up, as O'Connor caused a storm last year with her full-frontal nude of art critic Professor Bernard Smith, with legs akimbo, revealing all.

She said she painted Mr Button as Rodin's Thinker because she was impressed with his intellect and inner strength.

"I wanted the background to be one gigantic symbol so I had a friend take a photo of the steps of the Old Parliament House in Canberra. I posed him seated as The Thinker and then added the background from the photo."

A curious element is the knuckles of the left hand look red and bleeding, as though he's just had a fight. A political prizefighter deep in thought perhaps?

"No, it was an accident," O'Connor said. "Some red paint dripped on that spot and I decided to leave it there as it obviously wanted to be there. I tried to capture his heart. I felt politicians had no heart so I would never paint one.

"But John was different. He has got heart and a wonderful sense of humour."

Attached Images

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