At the Archibalds

 The Archibald portraits never disappoint and an invite to the opening night is much sought after. Pictured above left is the NSW Art's Minister Troy Grant with the youthful NSW Premier Mike Baird and the director of the NSW Art Gallery Michael Brand on the far right. Below is the winning portrait on the left, a painting of Penelope Seidler by Fiona Lowry (it picked up $70,000), Rodney Pople's Barry Humphries, Tonya Bright & Zoe Young and Kate Benyon with 'Sangeeta and Fuji'.

# The Shuttle was once invited to a party at Harry & Penelope Seidler's magnificent harbour side duplex that overlooks Luna Park in North Sydney. Asking for the gents, Penny responded "upstairs and down the hallway and through the door with the Picasso on one side and the Van Gogh on the other".  Below-more portraits.

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Two snaps have come to our attention. One is a pic sent to us from our good pal Joan Rivers currently on a European tour. She's just about to join a queue to get into The Vatican. The other a sharp eyed reader has sent with a query : there is a remarkable resemblance between the popular (?) Speaker of the House of representatives Bronwyn Bishop MP and the famous Australian housewife & megastar Dame Edna Everage. Are they perchance related ?. I think we should be told.

Art'n About

Joanna Braithwaite's 'Royal Mount' from the Sulman exhibition

Now in its 90th year, the Archibald Prize is one of Australia’s oldest and most prestigious art awards. JF Archibald’s primary aims were to foster portraiture, support artists and perpetuate the memory of great Australians.

There was little controversy this year. No-one is suing anyone as has happened several times in the past - once over a claim a charcoal drawing was not a painting. Although the Archibalds thrive on controversy and out of hundreds of entries only 40 get hung as a twelve trustees of the NSW Art Gallery-led by the president Steven Lowy (his family own the world-wide chain of Westfield shopping centres) finally decide on a winner after much debate.



Margaret Olley &  Ben Quilty



This year's winner of the $50,000 prize was Ben Quilty with his portrait of Australia's doyen of art, 88 year old Margaret Olley acclaimed as our greatest living artist who was also the subject of the 1948 winning work by William Dobell.

Richard Goodwin won the Wynne Prize for his sculpture of a vertical motorcycle titled ' Co-isolated slav.'and the Sulman Prize was won by Peter Smeeth for his painting 'The artist's fate'.

Hugo Weaving admires a painting of his pal Richard Roxburgh

All the works  go on public exhibition from tomorrow until June 26 at the Art Gallery of NSW and will then tour regional NSW and Victoria.



Rodney Pople with his family portrait



round the world sailor Jessica Watson by Tom McBeth

Judy & Ken Done with his self portrait

Nicholas Harding's portrait of actor Hugo Weaving



Gallery director Edmund Capon, new NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell , Steven Lowy



Song Ling's self portrait

Art Attacks !

right : Rodney Pople & Annita Keating

It is the sort of publicity to die for !. Complaints that the art works are 'blasphemous' and 'pornographic'.

Rodney Pople, a graduate from the prestige Slade Art School in London found around 20 placard waving religious folk outside an art gallery at the beginning of his new solo exhibition this week at the Australian Gallery in Paddington. Pople's impressive list of collectors of his works include US film director Spike Jonze, millionaire banker and MP Malcolm Turnbull and Perth billionaire media mogul Kerry Stokes.

The demonstrators-in between bouts of prayers, were complaining that Pople's exhibition, Bellini 21c, includes a work called Altarpiece in which the figures in the famous Bellini altarpiece in Venice are obscured by an image of a woman being penetrated from behind and having oral sex.

Their prayers paid off. As guests arrived for the opening party the heavens opened and rain lashed down. Amongst those guests was a former pupil of Pople's and the former first lady Annita Keating who was once married to former Prime Minister Paul Keating. Annita is having her own exhibition early next year. She wasn't shocked by Pople's works and says she concentrates on painting flowers. So there won't be a demo at her show.

Apparently Inspector Knacker of Rose Bay police is investigating the complaints about the art works.
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He's been called one of 2 of the most important living Australian artists-Charles Blackburn (left)-the other is Margaret Olley-and his past paintings exchange hands for well over a million dollars but the artist at 82 is said to be struggling financially.

Blackman's latest exhibition at the Art House was a sellout which should solve that crisis. Blackman has had 4 wives and they all received generous settlements including the last - Victoria who is a devotee of the Raelians which has been described as "the largest UFO religion in the world".

Raelians don't believe in smoking, drinking and sex. Blackman believes in all 3 so something had to go. It was Victoria.
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At the other end of the art market, the very controversial painter Charles Billich seems to have become very chummy with King Taufa'ahau Tupou V. the King of Tonga who has been keeping a $2000 a night suite at a Kings Cross hotel and entertaining locals with Charles and wife Christa joining in.

Apparently Charles has begun work on a portrait of the King and will be presenting it to him in 8 weeks at a gala dinner in the King's honour (we'll be there!).

Tupov V takes after his predecessors in looks and enormous bulk. His grandmother Queen SalotiTupou III was in the Royal procession of coaches after the coronation of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.

Watching was Noel Coward along with actor David Niven. When Niven asked who the large lady in the carriage was, Coward replied "the Queen of Tonga".
"And who is the little man beside her " asked Niven of the small attendant seated next to the Tongan Queen.
"Her lunch" replied Coward.