Art Gallery of New South Wales - Archive: Archibald, Wynne & Sulman Prizes 2010

ANNOUNCEMENT OF FINALISTS FOR ALL PRIZES, AND THE PACKING ROOM PRIZE
Wednesday 17 March at 11am (media only)
The names of artists selected for the Archibald, Wynne & Sulman Prizes will be announced to the media only on Wednesday 17 March at 11am. The names will be advertised nationally on Thursday 18 March.

At the same time the Packing Room Prize will be announced. This highly coveted prize of $500 cash and a $500 ANZ Visa Debit Card is awarded to the winning artist by the burly blokes behind the scenes, who receive, unpack and hang all the entries. First awarded in 1991, the Packing Room Prize is adjudicated by the Gallery’s Storeman, Steve Peters, who continues to claim his right to 51% of the votes.

The 2009 Packing Room Prize was won by Paul Jackson for his painting Flacco.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS
FRIDAY 26 MARCH AT 12 NOON (MEDIA ONLY)
Australia's most extraordinary art event, the Archibald Prize, first awarded in 1921, is one of this country's oldest and most prestigious art awards. Combined with the Wynne & Sulman Prizes, lively debate and controversy is assured.

The winners of all three prizes will be announced to the media only on Friday 26 March at 12 noon.

With the support of the ANZ, the winner of the Archibald Prize receives $50,000, the Wynne Prize for landscape painting or figure sculpture $25,000, and the Sulman Prize for subject/genre painting and/or mural work $20,000.

THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE
Thursday 20 May at 11am
Since 1988 the public has had the opportunity to vote for their favourite portrait in the Archibald exhibition. This year the winner of the 'People's Choice' will be announced on Thursday 20 May at 11am. The artist and the selected voter will each be presented with $2,500 cash and $1,000 ANZ Visa Debit Card.

The 2009 People's Choice was won by Vincent Fantauzzo for his portrait of child actor Brandon Walters.

See below for more information regarding the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes, the judges and last year's winners.

On view		Saturday 27 March to Sunday 20 May 2010 Art Gallery of New South Wales Art Gallery Road The Domain, Sydney
Telephone		(02) 9225 1744 or recorded information (02) 9225 1790 National toll free 1800 679 278
Website		www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
Hours		7 days a week 10am to 5pm (closed Easter Friday and Christmas Day) open until 9pm on Wednesdays
Admission		$10 adults $7 concession/members
Media information		Claire Martin Telephone (02) 9225 1734 or 0414 437 588 clairem@ag.nsw.gov.au Susanne Briggs Telephone (02) 9225 1791 or 0412 268 320 susanneb@ag.nsw.gov.au

TOURING DATES
The NSW Regional Tour of the Archibald Prize is managed by Museums & Galleries NSW. Tel: (02) 9358 1760.

Goulbourn Regional Art Gallery
Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
Tamworth Regional Gallery
Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery
Muswellbrook Regional Art Gallery
Shoalhaven City Arts Centre
Albury Art Gallery and Library Museum

11 June - 11 July
22 July - 22 August
28 August - 24 September
4 October - 27 October
4 November - 5 December
14 December - 18 January 2011
27 January - 3 March 2011

The Archibald, Wynne & Sulman Prizes principal sponsor is ANZ.

ANZ
ANZ is delighted to partner with the Art Gallery of New South Wales to bring you Australia’s most loved and anticipated art exhibition – the Archibald Prize. For the past 89 years, the Archibald Prize has given Australian artists a unique platform to showcase their talent while profiling some of Australia’s most interesting and colourful characters. ANZ has a long history of supporting the arts and community sectors, and this is an exciting opportunity for us to be a part of an annual event that brings art to the community.

Mike Smith
CEO, ANZ

Guy Maestri's Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu

THE ARCHIBALD PRIZE
Jules François Archibald's primary aim, through his bequest of 1919, was to foster portraiture, as well as support artists, and perpetuate the memory of great Australians.

Amongst many controversies, these original aims have certainly been fulfilled, and indeed many believe the Archibald Prize has done more than any other single event to stimulate and sustain public interest in the art of portrait painting in Australia.

The Archibald Prize was first awarded in 1921 and over the years some of Australia's most prominent artists have won, including George Lambert (1927), William Dobell (1943, '48 and '59) Brett Whiteley (1976 and '78) and William Robinson (1987, '95). The subjects of Archibald winners have been equally celebrated in their fields and include 'Banjo' Patterson, Margaret Olley, Patrick White, Paul Keating, John Bell and David Wenham.

The 2009 Archibald Prize was won by Guy Maestri for his portrait Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.

The Archibald Prize is judged by the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Image: Guy Maestri Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu 2009

Lional Bawden's The amorphous ones

THE WYNNE PRIZE
In the terms of the bequest of the late Richard Wynne of Mount Wilson, who died in 1895, the Wynne Prize is awarded to what the judges consider to be the best landscape painting of Australian scenery in oils or watercolours, or for the best example of figure sculpture by an Australian artist.

It was first awarded in 1897, in honour of the official opening of the Art Gallery of New South Wales at its present site. Many winning paintings have become icons in Australian landscape painting, entering the collections of public art museums: Hans Heysen's watercolour Summer, a consummate masterpiece of 1909, and Russell Drysdale's classic Sofala of 1947 were both purchased for the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. No less than eight Wynne Prize winning entries have been purchased by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The winner of the 2009 Wynne Prize was Lionel Bawden for his sculpture The amorphous ones (the vast colony of our being).

The Wynne Prize is judged by the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Entries in the Wynne Prize are also considered by the judges for the Trustees' Watercolour Prize ($2000) and for the John & Elizabeth Newham Pring Memorial Prize ($250). In 2009 the Trustees' Watercolour Prize was awarded to Graham Fransella for his painting Shoreline.

Image: Lional Bawden The amorphous ones (the vast colony of our being)

THE SULMAN PRIZE
The Sulman Prize is awarded for the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project by an Australian artist. Established within the terms of the late Sir John Sulman's bequest, it was first awarded in 1936.

The winner of the 2009 Sulman Prize was Ivan Durrant for ANZAC Match, M.C.G.

Artist Imants Tillers is the judge of the 2010 Sulman Prize.