Frank Norton
1916-1983
With the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Norton acquired small commissions from the Royal Indian Navy and British Department of Information, but by 1940 his artistic career declined and he returned to Australia where he married Audrey Horn, whom he first met in 1934. The following year Norton joined the RAN and was appointed by the Australian War Memorial (AWM) as an official war artist. In this capacity he documented RAN, and occasionally RAAF, operations in the Mediterranean and the Pacific. This collection, held by the AWM, highlights his strength in draughtsmanship and his ability for the faithful depiction of ships even in the midst of intense fighting.
At the end of the war, Norton was employed at the National Art School for the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme for ex-servicemen. He also produced illustrations for various publications. Norton received leave in 1952 when he was once again appointed an official war artist to document the RAN during the Korean War (1950-1953).
In 1958 Norton was appointed Director of the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) and moved to Perth with his family, which now included three daughters, one of whom is artist Lynne Norton. Frank Norton held the post at AGWA until his retirement in 1976. As Director he concentrated mainly on building up the contemporary, Indigenous and sculpture collections. He continued to sketch and paint the maritime subjects he knew so well throughout his later years and died in 1983.
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