The RBA Museum earlier this week launched its latest video, Portraits of Value, which recounts the portraits on Australian bank notes across the last century and acknowledges the contribution of the mini talented Australian artists that contributed to this rich cultural heritage.
The video reviews the variety of individuals included Australian bank notes, from King George V to convict-turned-entrepreneur Mary Reibey.
Importantly, the video highlights the contributions of individuals such as Napier Waller to the 1950s banknotes series, along with sculptor Leslie Bowles who created the plaster casts that formed the basis of portrait images in these notes.
The video then looks at the works of the NNS series including Max Robinson ($10), Garry Emery ($20), Brian Sadgrove ($50) and Bruce Stewart ($100).
Finally the work of NPA’s Robert Cook in creating the portraits for the entire second polymer banknote series is discussed in “A Conversation with Australia’s Banknote Designer“ in which Rob talks about the challenges and inspirations connected with portraits that appear on Australia’s current series of banknotes.