Australian Women Artists
The podcast
Ep 90 Jude Rae
Jude Rae is one of Australia's most respected painters.
She’s an artist who has spent over four decades looking very, very hard at the things most of us walk straight past — jars, bottles, gas cylinders, fire extinguishers, empty foyers — and turning them into paintings of extraordinary stillness and presence.
Jude was born in Sydney and was the daughter of realist painter David Rae. In fact, both her father and Grandmother trained at Julian Ashton Art School...and in 1968 Jude herself joined classes there. And, having done the sums, I calculated that she was 12 years old when this occurred!
Jude went on to study art and architecture of the Renaissance at the University of Sydney and undertook postgraduate study at COFA and then spent over a decade in New Zealand where she completed a Masters at Canterbury University. NZ is, as a result, a place she calls her second home.
Jude has twice won the Portia Geach Memorial Award, she’s won the Bulgari Art Award in 2016, has been a four-time finalist in the Archibald Prize, three of those times being Highly Commended. Her portraits hang in Parliament House, the High Court and the National Portrait Gallery. And in 2025 she won the Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
She has a very special place in the Australian art canon.
To hear our conversation, head to wherever you find your podcasts and search under Australian Women Artists...or head to the link in my bio.
Jude is represented by Philip Bacon Gallery in Brisbane and Two Rooms, Auckland NZ
Images
1. JR by Maria Stoljar courtesy JR
2. SL 536, 2026 oil on linen (all paintings in these images are OOL) 71 x 61
3. SL 464, 2022, 122 x 138
4. SL 466, 2022, 112 x 138
5. #540, 2026, 41 x 46
6. SL 532, 2025, 41 x 46
7. SL 527, 2026, 46 x 56
