Cut | , | August 08, 2017

WHAT: Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2017 Exhibition

WHERE: Art Gallery of NSW

WHEN: 29 Jul – 22 Oct 2017

TIX & PRICES: Here

 

There’s a reason the Archibald Prize is the most hyped event on the Australian art calendar. First awarded in 1921, the prestigious prize has become an essential element of Australia’s cultural dialogue, with each winner capturing a moment in the country’s history. Awarded to the best portrait painting, previous winners have often focused on politicians, sporting heroes and musicians. You’ve probably seen them all without knowing they’ve won an Archibald Prize – they’re that engrained within the Australian psyche.

 

Here’s this year’s winner Agatha Gothe-Snape, by Mitch Cairns.

 

‘In this painting, Agatha is both an active subject and a recalcitrant muse embracing and resisting simultaneously any idea of what it is to be fixed. Ultimately this is what is most attractive about Agatha. She embodies an uncompromising agency whilst having the grace to accept the ready complications inherent within our life as artists’ 

 

 

Take a look at some of the prize’s most memorable entries over the years.

 

Vincent Fantauzzo – Heath Ledger, 2008

 

 

Evert Ploeg – Bananas In Pyjamas, 1997

 

 

Adam Cullen -David Wenham, 2000

 

 

Bret Whitley – Self Portrait, 1976 

 

 

Del Kathryn Barton – Hugo Weaving, 2013 

 

 

Sam Leach – Tim Minchin, 2010 

 

 

Betina Fauvel-Ogden – George Calombaris, 2016