The Kangaroo Artist: Harold Thornton's Legacy

0:00From Sydney, this is your March 11th update. Harold Thornton, known as the Kangaroo, was an Australian artist who called himself the greatest genius who ever lived. He gained notice in 1983 with a huge psychedelic portrait of green's leader Bob Brown entered in the Archibald Prize. Dressed in painted clothes and fake teeth, he stood by the painting every day it was shown, hoping for recognition that never fully came. Thornton lived a wildlife beyond painting. He wrestled professionally early on, starred in a short film by director Peter Weir, ran a restaurant in Papua New Guinea, and spent years in Moscow, and Amsterdam. There, he painted on streets with a sign asking for beer if people liked his work, and left a mural on a popular cafe that draws tourists today. Friends and fellow artists saw his unique spirit. Painter Ken Dunn called him on his own time, a head or behind everyone else, and once shipped his works worldwide. Bob Brown keeps a big print of the portrait in his office, praising it as a record of Australia's

1:00environmental history. Others remembered his kindness and humor despite his tall tales. Thornton resisted selling his art to keep it for everyone, staying broke most of his life. He protested gallery rejections with giant heads and clashed with locals over bold portraits. Even painting his father's body after death showed his drive. He joined the Franklin Dam blockade in Tasmania, meeting future leaders there. Today, his Bob Brown portrait sits in the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, his biggest legacy. Nephew Philip Thornton cares for many works, hoping an art student or gallery will display them together. Thornton died in 2004, but his colorful story and spellbinding paintings live on. Quick thanks to today's sponsor, see the description for more. Press play. Put your head down. The sound is already there. S-O-L-I-SoliPillow.com