WHAT: Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2017 Exhibition
WHERE: Art Gallery of NSW
WHEN: 29 Jul – 22 Oct 2017
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
