Edward Jack Humphrey has painted a portrait of Australian cultural figure, art dealer and curator Michael Reid OAM. In 2016, Michael was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, and in 2022 he was named by News Corporation as one of the 100 most influential people in Australian arts. His trajectory from dealing art in a small Sydney terrace house to establishing a flagship gallery in Chippendale, alongside regional spaces in Murrurundi and the Southern Highlands and an international presence in Berlin, reflects an Australian story of ambition, resilience and perseverance.
Michael speaks often about regional‑to‑metropolitan growth, the need for resilience within the Australian creative industry, and the importance of developing a cultural ecosystem that supports both established and emerging artists. Like Edward’s grandfather, Geoff K. Gray, who was an art auctioneer, Michael represents a lineage of Australian cultural labour: the people who help build the art world from the ground up. As Michael describes, “you are literally running forward and getting bigger… or you could well be going under.”
Edward depicts Michael in a deep red jacket, a circus ringmaster’s commanding presence that speaks to showmanship, style and the theatricality of the Australian art market. The inclusion of Max Dupain’s The Sunbaker serves not only as homage but as a metaphor for Australian identity – the optimism felt after the Depression and the deep connection between the human body and Australia’s coastal landscape. By positioning Michael in front of Dupain’s iconic image, Edward portrays him as someone who carries, curates and extends the vital lineage of Australian cultural photography and its influence on the contemporary art market.
