June Yvonne Mendoza, AO, OBE, RP, ROI, HonSWA (12 June 1924 – 16 May 2024) was an Australian portrait painter, working mainly in oil.[1][2]
Early life
June Mendoza was born in Melbourne, Australia on 12 June 1924, the first child of Doris "Dot" (née Mendoza) and John Morton. Her parents were both musicians, performers and composers in violin and piano respectively. They separated when she was six, and after their divorce in 1942, Mendoza's mother reverted to her maiden name. Her younger brother Peter Mendoza (born 1927) was an actor most notably with JC Williamsons in Australia and repertory theatre in England. As a child she toured with her mother, working in small mime parts and crowd scenes for the opera, ballet, musicals and revue. During these tours she started sketching in her spare time.[3][4] She realised that art was her calling at age 12 and commenced life classes at 14 and portraiture eventually became her forte.[5] She left school early and after the Second World War moved to London, where she studied at St Martin’s School of Art.[4]
In the 1940s and 1950s, she was also active as a comic artist. [6]
In 1960 she married Keith Mackrell, whom she accompanied on two overseas postings, 1960–1965 in the Philippines and 1969–1973 in Australia. They had four children.
Mendoza died after a stroke on 16 May 2024, at the age of 99.[14]
