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Portraits of Chief Justices and the first bench

  • Court 3
  • Jude RAE
  • born 1956
  • Portrait of Chief Justice Kiefel
  • 2018
  • Oil on linen
  • High Court of Australia Historic Memorials Collection

 

The Honourable Susan Mary Kiefel AC KC was appointed Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia on 30 January 2017, having served as a Justice of the High Court since 3 September 2007. Ms Kiefel retired from the Court in November 2023, having served approximately seven years as the first female Chief Justice of Australia.

Ms Kiefel was born in Cairns, Queensland, Australia in 1954. She was educated in Queensland and at the University of Cambridge, where she received a Master of Law. She was awarded the CJ Hamson Prize for Comparative Law and the Jennings Prize. Having been admitted to the Queensland Bar in 1975, Ms Kiefel in 1987 became the first woman in Queensland to be appointed Queen’s Counsel. She became a Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1993, and a Justice of the Federal Court of Australia in 1994. For four years (2003-2007) Ms Kiefel served as a part?time Commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission. She also held a commission as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island from 2004. She was for many years a member of and later chaired the Key Centre for Ethics, Law and Governance at Griffith University.


In 2011, Ms Kiefel was awarded the Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia for eminent service to the law, judiciary law reform and legal education in the areas of ethics, justice and governance.

Ms Kiefel is a Life Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, and a Life Member of the Bar Association of Queensland. In 2008, she was made an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge and a Doctor of the Griffith University. In 2009, Ms Kiefel was made a Doctor of Laws honoris causa by the University of Queensland, and in 2018 was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of Adelaide. In 2019, Ms Kiefel received the awards of Doctor of the University from both the Queensland University of Technology and the University of the Sunshine Coast. Among other associations, Ms Kiefel is a titular member of the International Academy of Comparative Law and an Honorary Bencher of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn. In 2023, Ms Kiefel was awarded life membership of the Australian Bar Association.

Ms Kiefel is the Queensland recipient of the 2024 Australian Awards for Excellence in Women’s Leadership.

About the Artist:

Jude Rae is a Sydney based artist best known for her still life paintings, portraits and architectural interiors. The low key, non-narrative imagery she employs allows the attention to dwell on the formal and material aspects of representational painting, encouraging a more reflective and considered approach to the complexities of visual experience.

After graduating in Fine Arts (History) at Sydney University Jude taught at City Art Institute (University of NSW). Jude Rae began exhibiting in the 1980s and was first included in 12 Contemporary Women at the Bathurst Regional Art Gallery. In 1987 Jude had her first solo show with Painters Gallery. At this time, she was also a founding member of the Ultimo Project Studios, an urban housing co-operative for artists in Sydney. In 1989, after receiving the Australia Council Residency in Paris and working in London, she went to New Zealand and lived in Christchurch where she was the first Director of South Island Art Projects.

Jude has held over 60 solo exhibitions in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and the USA. She has been awarded residencies in France, Italy and New Zealand and taught in both Australia and New Zealand, including at Australian National University.

Jude has won numerous awards including:
• The Portia Geach Memorial Award for Portraiture in 2005 and 2008
• Jude was a finalist in the Archibald Prize in 2014
• In 2016 Jude was the recipient of the prestigious Bulgari Award presented in partnership with the Art Gallery of NSW
• Jude was Highly Commended in the Archibald Prize in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
• And in 2024 Jude was a finalist in the Sulman and Wynne prizes.

Rae is known for her still- life paintings large scale interiors, and portraits, several of which have been award-winning. Her artworks are found in collections across Australia and New Zealand, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o T?maki, National Gallery of Australia, Parliament House Art Collection, National Portrait Gallery, Te Papa Tongarewa, the High Court of Australia as well as private collections in Australia, New Zealand, UK and USA.

About the artist

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