Archibald Prize

The Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize, and is the most prominent of all arts prizes, in Australia. It began in 1921 after a bequest from J F Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin, and is awarded annually by the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales for "the best portrait, preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters, Science or Politics, painted by an artist resident in Australasia during the 12 months preceding the date fixed by the Trustees for sending in the pictures." In 2005, the prize awarded was $35,000.

Controversy

The prize has historically attracted a good deal of controversy and several court cases; the most famous in 1943 when William Dobell's win was challenged because of claims it was a caricature rather than a painting.

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Max Meldrum criticised the Archibald Prize winner in 1938, saying that women could not be expected to paint as well as men. Nora Heysen was the first woman to win the Archibald Prize, with a portrait of Madame Elink Schuurman, the wife of the Consul General for the Netherlands.

Related Topics:
Max Meldrum - Nora Heysen - Netherlands

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In 1952 several art students including John Olsen protested William Dargie's winning portrait, the seventh time he had been awarded the prize. One protester tied a sign around her dog which said "Winner Archibald Prize - William Doggie". Dargie went on to win the prize again in 1956.

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In 1975, John Bloomfield's portrait of Tim Burstall was disqualified on the grounds that it had been painted from a blown up photograph, rather than from life. The prize was then awarded to Kevin Connor. Later, legal action was threatened by John Bloomfield in 1981, claiming that the winner that year, Eric Smith had not painted his subject from life. In 1983 John Bloomfield sued for the return of the 1975 prize which was unsuccessful. In 1995 the application form of the Archibald Prize was modified based on this to make clear that the subject must be painted from life.

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In 1985, administration of the trust was transferred to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, after a court case where the Perpetual Trustee Company took the Australian Journalists Association Benevolent Fund to court.

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In 1997 the painting of the Bananas in Pyjamas television characters by Evert Ploeg was deemed ineligible by the trustees because it was not a painting of a person.

Related Topics:
Bananas in Pyjamas - Evert Ploeg

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Another controversy involved the 2000 Archibald winner, when artist Adam Cullen lodged a complaint with the ABC who had used his painting, Portrait of David Wenham, in a television commercial.

Related Topics:
Adam Cullen - ABC

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In 2002, head packer Steve Peters singled out a painting of himself by Dave Machin as a possible winner for the Packing Room Prize. It did not win, but it was hung outside the Archibald exhibition. Following this, portraits of the head packer were no longer allowed.

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In 2004 Craig Ruddy's image of David Gulpilil, which won both the main prize and the "People's Choice" award, was challenged on the basis that it was a charcoal sketch rather than a painting.

Related Topics:
Craig Ruddy - David Gulpilil

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