Biography

Donald Friend was an Australian artist who was born in 1915 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Donald Friend began drawing at an early age and studied at the Sydney Art School under Julian Ashton. He later continued his education in London at the Westminster School of Art, where he studied under Bernard Meninsky and Mark Gertler, and also spent time in Nigeria and Europe, developing a sophisticated, cosmopolitan approach to his art. Friend served as a war artist during World War II, documenting life in the military and tropical landscapes of the Pacific. After the war, he became widely recognized for his visual and literary talents. He lived and worked in several countries including Italy, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and most notably, Bali, Indonesia, where his artistic style evolved to incorporate rich decorative elements and vibrant cultural motifs. He was also an accomplished diarist, publishing multiple volumes of journals filled with personal anecdotes, social commentary, and illustrations. These diaries remain both celebrated and controversial for their artistic value and for the troubling content they sometimes contain, particularly regarding his attitudes and behavior toward young boys, which has drawn significant criticism in recent decades. The artist died in August 16,1989, Sydney, Australia.