Archibald portrait prize winner

Indigenous artist Blak Douglas has won the $100,000 Archibald for his portrait of fellow artist Moby Dickens. Well done Blak..we like it !.

2015 Archibald Prize winner Announced

Artist Nigel Milsom has won the Archibald with his portrait of colourful barrister-around-town, film producer, novelist, film script writer (Rake) and newspaper columnnist Charles Waterstreet.
Says Milson : ‘"I’ve known Charlie indirectly and directly since birth. I was born in Albury around the corner from the Waterstreet Hotel, owned and managed by his parents. On Friday afternoons, my father used to sell them freshly caught Murray cod to earn extra money for materials he needed to complete a boat he was building at home, which later sank to the bottom of the Murray River during its maiden voyage one freezing afternoon."
Perhaps the claw like hands (left) are a reference to Waterstreet's 1987 production of Howling 111.
 And the famous Packer's Prize : chosen by the workers at the NSW Gallery-has been picked up by Bruno Jean Grasswill ( husband of ABC "Australian Story" producer Helen Grasswill ) with his portrait of actor Michael Caton. (pictured left inset)

Below are just a selection of this year's Archibald entries. The full exhibition can be viewed from Monday at the Art Gallery of NSW.

 below : At the gallery today for the announcement : Sarah Najjar, Charles Waterstreet, Nigel Milsom & partner. 

Photo by Chryssanthe Hronopoulos

 

David Frost : " A Towering Intellect"

When the Shuttle interviewed the late Sir David Frost in 2011 he responded to a question about former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam : "a towering intellect, possibly the most intellectual politician"'
Friday was Gough's 98th birthday and he celebrated with his family at his nursing home Lulworth House. Sadly Gough has lost his great Labor Party ally and fellow resident, former NSW premier Nevile Wran who died in April this year. But another mate and resident Sir Laurence Street was there to wish Gough all the best. In our picture is Gough and son Tony Whitlam. Gough's wife Margaret died in 2012.
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Next Friday the winner of the Archibald Prize for portraiture will be announced at the Art Gallery of NSW. Watch this cool video of every winner from 1921 to 2013 morphed into one.

Courtesy : ABC and Art Gallery of New South Wales

Hugo Weaving Is Well Hung

Katrina Greenwood (aka Mrs Hugo weaving) and daughter Holly

That time of the year : the annual Archibald Prize is awarded for the best portrait of a significant figure in Australian cultural life . And this year it was Del Kathryn Barton's painting of Matrix. Lord of The Rings & Hobbit star Hugo Weaving. The 'Packer's Prize' was the Mathew Lynn pic of crime writer Tara Moss.

 Tara Moss &her portrait

Burlesque star Venus Vamp & her Wendy Sharpe portrait

It's the second year that a portrait of Weaving has been entered and last year's portrait by Nicholas Harding has been sold to the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, according to Hugo's wife who was on hand with daughter Holly for the launch party. Hugo was in Melbourne filming so couldn't attend..
The Wynne Prize for Landscape was won by  Imants Tillers for Namatjira while the Sir John Sulman Prize went to Victoria Reichelt for After (books). You can see all the paintings at the website for the Art Gallery of New South Wales while here is a selection taken by the Shuttle after 3 glasses of champagne,
                         

what is it ?

Hugo Weaving at the 2012 Archibald