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Melbourne artist Richard Lewer paints an occasional series called Richard\u2019s Disasters, A True Story. They are vignettes from his personal life: girlfriend breakups, a spider bite and a near drowning in rough surf near his home town of Auckland. There was even his chagrin at a major arts award night when he wore a green parka among a sea of black-tie guests.<\/p>\n
Lewer, who admits to being accident-prone, might be rethinking a new series of highlights after he was awarded this year\u2019s Archibald Prize for a portrait of Indigenous artist Iluwanti Ken.<\/p>\n
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Richard Lewer with Iluwanti Ken, the subject of his Archibald Prize-winning portrait, at the Art Gallery of NSW on Friday.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n
\u201cI just have many disasters, probably like lots of people, but I tend to document mine. They are humorous, they\u2019re funny, but kind of tragic,\u201d he said. \u201cDocumenting is important to me, but the Archibald is definitely not a disaster. But who knows? I might end up tripping on something tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lewer\u2019s portrait of Ken was announced the winner of the $100,000 prize at the Art Gallery of NSW on Friday, selected unanimously by gallery trustees from a near-record 1034 entries and 59 finalists.<\/p>\n
Accepting the award, Lewer said he was \u201cdeeply humbled\u201d to win, and his intention had always been to bring recognition to the work of his subject, a Pitjantjatjara elder and artist known for her ink drawings of mother eagles hunting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really proud moment. When I heard, I was shocked to be honest because you never know how things are going to go,\u201d Lewer said. \u201cLike, I painted other paintings that I thought were really great, and they haven\u2019t necessarily won. I don\u2019t know, maybe it\u2019s the right painting at the right time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best thing about winning this award is I\u2019ll never be referred to as Richard Lewer, sixth or seventh-time finalist of the Archibald Prize, which is good because I was kind of sick of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Zealand-born Lewer\u2019s art spans painting, drawing, animation and video. He studied at the Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland and the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne before becoming a fixture in the Australian art scene.<\/p>\n
Lewer is no stranger to the Art Gallery of NSW; in 2022, he documented the construction workers behind its Sydney Modern project. And in 2024, he reimagined the Adam and Eve story in 12 paintings for the National Gallery of Victoria\u2019s Triennial. He\u2019s just finished an animation and a series of paintings about dementia for the National Gallery of Australia that will tour Australia for four years.<\/p>\n
He paints, he says, to heal himself, and \u201cthat\u2019s never going to go away\u201d. With his win he plans to build a studio for himself with dual-cycle airconditioning. \u201cI know where I am going. I know I have to work hard, and I\u2019ll be back painting tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Art Gallery of NSW trust president Michael Rose (right) presents Richard Lewer with the 2026 Archibald Prize.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n
The Archibald, regarded as Australia\u2019s most prestigious portrait prize, is awarded to the best portrait of a person \u201cdistinguished in art, letters, science or politics\u201d painted by an Australian resident. Entries must be painted in the past year and from life, with artists meeting their subjects face-to-face for at least one sitting.<\/p>\n
Lewer travelled to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of South Australia last November for the sitting, the painting the result of several conversations with Ken. \u201cThat\u2019s how I paint,\u201d he says, \u201cit\u2019s building up a story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ken is featured larger than life, against a background of solid ochre yellow depicting the heat of the desert. Flecks of paint on Ken\u2019s arm suggest her life as a working artist, as if she has just stepped away from the studio.<\/p>\n
Alongside the Archibald, the $50,000 Wynne prize for landscape painting and figurative sculpture was awarded on Friday to Gaypalani Wanambi for a large, double-sided work detailing the songlines of the Marakulu clan and the ancestral honey hunter, Wuyal.<\/p>\n
The $40,000 Sulman Prize for best subject painting, genre painting or mural project went to sentimental favourite Lucy Culliton for a painting of her greyhound, Toolah, one of nine rescue dogs she keeps.<\/p>\n
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Lucy Culliton at the Art Gallery of NSW with her Sulman Prize-winning painting of her greyhound Toolah.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n
Toolah is the \u201cMona Lisa of the art world\u201d, according to Culliton. \u201cHer eyes follow you around the room,\u201d who was overwhelmed to finally land one of the big three prizes after being a finalist on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a love-hate relationship with the Art Gallery of NSW and the trustees, I guess,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause my painting might be hung, and then the following year, it\u2019s not. So I feel that disappointment, then I don\u2019t go in for a year, and then I forget, and then I go again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Culliton is a passionate advocate for animal rights and outspoken against conditions of greyhound racing.<\/p>\n
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