The Dobell Prize for Drawing

Thursday 5 August until 16 October 2005 

Art Gallery of New South Wales

The Dobell Prize for Drawing is one of the most coveted art awards in Australia. Initiated by the trustees of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, the Prize was first awarded in 1993. The winner receives $20,000.

The judge of the 2005 Dobell Prize is Elizabeth Cross, an artist, art writer and curator of last year's Edvard Munch exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. The winner of this year's Prize will be announced on Thursday 4 August at 11am. Works will be delivered to the Gallery between Wednesday 27 July and Friday 29 July. Last year, there were 677 entries.

The Dobell Prize for Drawing has always been the subject of discussion and debate about the nature of drawing. What constitutes a drawing is however deliberately not outlined in the conditions of entry. That has been left for competing artists to define by their practice and for each individual judge, annually appointed by the trustees of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, to determine in the process of looking at all the entries. This flexible, open-minded approach has ensured that the greatest variety of drawings is submitted each year.

A condition of the Dobell Prize for Drawing is that the Art Gallery of New South Wales automatically acquires the prize-winning drawing each year. In all there are twelve prize-winning drawings in the collection acquired as a result of the Dobell Prize, which now forms part of a growing collection of contemporary Australian drawings at the gallery.

The Dobell Prize for Drawing catalogue will be available.