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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Josh Nicholas and Rafqa Touma

How to win the Archibald prize: what 100 years of data tells us

Composite (L-R) of Wendy Sharpe’s Self-portrait with ghosts, William Dargie’s Portrait of Albert Namatjira, Nora Heysen’s Mme Elink Schuurman, Andrea Huelin’s Clown jewels, Robert Hannaford’s Michael Chaney, WB McInnes’s H Desbrowe Annear and William Dobell’s Joshua Smith
Composite (L-R) of Wendy Sharpe’s Self-portrait with Ghosts, William Dargie’s Portrait of Albert Namatjira, Nora Heysen’s Mme Elink Schuurman, Andrea Huelin’s Clown Jewels, Robert Hannaford’s Michael Chaney, WB McInnes’s H Desbrowe Annear and William Dobell’s Joshua Smith. Composite: Wendy Sharpe/Nora Heysen/William Dargie/Lou Klepac/Wendy Sharpe/Mim Stirling/ Jenni Carter/ou Klepac/Andrea Huelin/William Dobell/WB McInnes/ Robert Hannaford/Sir William Dobell Art Foundation/William Dobell

Behind Australia’s most prestigious portrait prize sits more than a century of data that paints a picture of its own. That is, of a changing nation.

The Archibald can also be called a social history prize, says historian Joanna Mendelssohn.

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