DON

Salvador Flores Loreto was raised as a 'pure gypsy' in a gitano (gypsy) family, at the age of nine he begun practicing flamenco music and bullfighting. After a bullfighting accident aged fifteen, he returned to his early passion for painting attending various art schools in Algeciras, Bilbao, and Madrid to hone his craft. 

In 1966, Loreto began his life in Australia. This move inspired a new energy in his artistic expression with the discovery of new freedoms, rich landscapes, and Australia’s characteristic stark contrast of light and shade – all of which he poured into his paintings.  

The height of his career was painting two largescale portraits of the Honourable Don Dunstan AC QC (b. 1926 – d. 1999) former Premier of South Australia in 1998. Painted from life over multiple sittings, this is the final known portrait of the late Premier painted only a year before his untimely passing in 1999.  

Called simply 'DON', this portrait honours a man who contributed so much to the arts in South Australia. It was Don Dunstan’s vision and advocacy that raised the funds needed to build the Adelaide Festival Centre. His fundraising efforts exceeded their target in a week and the additional funds began the world-class Works of Art Collection – that this painting now becomes part of.