The man behind the prize lived a life that was not without tragedy and mystery…
Every year thousands of Sydneysiders visit the Art Gallery of NSW to view the entrants in the Archibald Prize for Portraiture. The prize aims to foster portrait artistry, as well as to eternalise the memory of great Australians. Across Australia, thousands more will see the travelling exhibition of the prize.
As editor of The Bulletin newspaper, Archibald nurtured the careers of Australian writers and artists from Miles Franklin and Banjo Paterson to Norman Lindsay and Francis Rodway. In 1900, he commissioned Melbourne portrait artist John Longstaff to paint a portrait of poet Henry Lawson. Archibald, pleased with this portrait, left money in his will for an annual portrait prize, which was first awarded in 1921.
Discover more about the man behind Australia’s most well-known art prize.
