12 Facts About Annette Bezor

Annette Bezor, born Annette Bateman, was an Australian painter and feminist, who lived and worked in Adelaide, South Australia.

Annette Bezor was a finalist in multiple art prizes in Australia, including the Archibald, Doug Moran and Sulman prizes as well as the Portia Geach Memorial Award in Sydney.

Annette Bezor was born on 5 April 1950 in Adelaide, South Australia, into a working-class family, the second child of Alma Smith and policeman Keith Bateman.

Annette Bezor left school at 14 because of bullying, and worked in a hairdressing salon where a remark by the manager on her "puppy fat" led to her suffering from anorexia for four years.

Annette Bezor afterwards said that she had felt "stultified" working in the male-dominated art school environment, and did her best work at home.

Annette Bezor's work was exhibited in Adelaide, Sydney, Hobart and Melbourne in the 1980s.

Annette Bezor was awarded the Australia Council's studio residency at the Cite internationale des arts in Paris, which she took up in 1987 and where she painted Romance is in the Air.

Annette Bezor continued her career after her return from Paris, achieving significant commercial and critical success.

Annette Bezor was commissioned by the Parliament of Victoria to paint the official portrait of the former Victorian Premier, Joan Kirner in 1994.

Annette Bezor continued to paint and at the same time caring for her mother until her death in 2019.

Annette Bezor died at the Mary Potter Hospice at the Calvary North Adelaide Hospital on 9 January 2020.

Annette Bezor's work has been selected as finalists in several major art prizes, and has won three smaller ones.