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Rudy Komon
JackofOz: Rudy Komon lives
'''Rudolph John Komon''' [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (21 June 190827 October 1982) was a Viennese-born Czech-Australian art dealer, gallery director, benefactor and wine connoisseur. He had a great influence on the burgeoning artistic life of Australia in the 1950s and 1960s.
==Life==
Komon was born in [[Vienna]] in 1908, to [[Czechs|Czech]] parents, and his family later moved to [[Berlin]]. After school he was a journalist for a Czech language newspaper, and in 1938 he moved to [[Czechoslovakia]] itself and joined the resistance, while ostensibly engaged in journalism and art dealership.<ref name=ADB/> His parents remained in Berlin, and his mother was killed by Allied bombing during World War II.<ref name=ADB>[http://bit.ly/2THrDOG Australian Dictionary of Biography]. Retrieved 14 January 2019</ref> After the Communist takeover of his country in 1948 he escaped to [[Switzerland]], then migrated to [[Australia]] in 1950, settling in [[Sydney]]..
He opened an antique store in [[Waverley, New South Wales|Waverley]],<ref name=ADB/> then the Rudy Komon Art Gallery in [[Woollahra, New South Wales|Woollahra]], in the site of a former liquor shop. He introduced European marketing practices to Australia, such as paying artists a wage in return for the right to sell their work,<ref name=ADB/> and significantly assisted the budding careers of painters such as [[Arthur Boyd]], [[John Brack]], [[Judy Cassab]], [[Robert Dickerson]], [[William Dobell]], [[Russell Drysdale]], [[Leonard French]], [[Sidney Nolan]], [[Clifton Pugh]],[[Jon Molvig]], [[John Olsen]], [[Fred Williams]] and [[Brett Whiteley]].<ref name=NPG>[http://bit.ly/2D9DRtV National Portrait Gallery]. Retrieved 14 January 2019</ref><ref name=ADB/>
Gwen Frolich joined the gallery in 1961 as Komon's business partner until his death in 1982. The Gallery was then ran by Frolich until it was closed in 1984.<ref>[http://bit.ly/2TKTsFJ NLA Trove]. Retrieved 14 January 2019</ref>
==Honours==
Komon was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]] (MBE) in June 1973.<ref>[http://bit.ly/2D85fsg It's an Honour]. Retrieved 14 January 2019</ref>
He was also known as a ''bon vivant'' and connoisseur of wine. From 1956 to 1976 he was Cellarmaster of the [[Wine and Food Society of New South Wales]], and from 1959 to 1979 he judged wine at shows in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra.<ref name=ADB/> The Rudy Komon Memorial Perpetual Trophy is awarded annually at the Sydney Royal Wine Show.<ref name=NPG/>
[[Eric Smith (artist)|Eric Smith]]'s portrait of Rudy Komon won the 1981 [[Archibald Prize]].<ref name=ADB/>
==References==
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Vienna]]
[[Category:Czech emigrants to Australia]]
[[Category:Australian art dealers]]
[[Category:Australian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Patrons of the arts]]
[[Category:Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
==Life==
Komon was born in [[Vienna]] in 1908, to [[Czechs|Czech]] parents, and his family later moved to [[Berlin]]. After school he was a journalist for a Czech language newspaper, and in 1938 he moved to [[Czechoslovakia]] itself and joined the resistance, while ostensibly engaged in journalism and art dealership.<ref name=ADB/> His parents remained in Berlin, and his mother was killed by Allied bombing during World War II.<ref name=ADB>[http://bit.ly/2THrDOG Australian Dictionary of Biography]. Retrieved 14 January 2019</ref> After the Communist takeover of his country in 1948 he escaped to [[Switzerland]], then migrated to [[Australia]] in 1950, settling in [[Sydney]]..
He opened an antique store in [[Waverley, New South Wales|Waverley]],<ref name=ADB/> then the Rudy Komon Art Gallery in [[Woollahra, New South Wales|Woollahra]], in the site of a former liquor shop. He introduced European marketing practices to Australia, such as paying artists a wage in return for the right to sell their work,<ref name=ADB/> and significantly assisted the budding careers of painters such as [[Arthur Boyd]], [[John Brack]], [[Judy Cassab]], [[Robert Dickerson]], [[William Dobell]], [[Russell Drysdale]], [[Leonard French]], [[Sidney Nolan]], [[Clifton Pugh]],[[Jon Molvig]], [[John Olsen]], [[Fred Williams]] and [[Brett Whiteley]].<ref name=NPG>[http://bit.ly/2D9DRtV National Portrait Gallery]. Retrieved 14 January 2019</ref><ref name=ADB/>
Gwen Frolich joined the gallery in 1961 as Komon's business partner until his death in 1982. The Gallery was then ran by Frolich until it was closed in 1984.<ref>[http://bit.ly/2TKTsFJ NLA Trove]. Retrieved 14 January 2019</ref>
==Honours==
Komon was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]] (MBE) in June 1973.<ref>[http://bit.ly/2D85fsg It's an Honour]. Retrieved 14 January 2019</ref>
He was also known as a ''bon vivant'' and connoisseur of wine. From 1956 to 1976 he was Cellarmaster of the [[Wine and Food Society of New South Wales]], and from 1959 to 1979 he judged wine at shows in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra.<ref name=ADB/> The Rudy Komon Memorial Perpetual Trophy is awarded annually at the Sydney Royal Wine Show.<ref name=NPG/>
[[Eric Smith (artist)|Eric Smith]]'s portrait of Rudy Komon won the 1981 [[Archibald Prize]].<ref name=ADB/>
==References==
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Vienna]]
[[Category:Czech emigrants to Australia]]
[[Category:Australian art dealers]]
[[Category:Australian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Patrons of the arts]]
[[Category:Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
January 14, 2019 at 08:04AM
