Peter Hill, Portrait of a winner, The Age
“I saw the image on the website,” said young artist Ben Quilty, whose portrait of Beryl Whiteley was hot favourite among the shortlisted entries, “and I thought, I don’t know why he’s done it, I didn’t like the reproduction of it at all. But when you see it in the gallery, the way he builds up the layers, with him fading into the landscape, it’s a cracker.”
Archibald winner is one to see to believe, The Courier Mail
It was a classic “prodigal son” story at this year’s awarding of the Archibald Prize. Australia’s most recognisable and, many would argue, most important art prize has always had its fair share of controversy. Indeed, for many years, angry young artists derided it as tired, traditionalist, elitist and a “chook raffle”. One of those angry young artists was John Olsen, who would go on to become one of this country’s most respected artists.
Full Circle, The Blurb
Currently also the main photo on the front website relates to the archibald prize. Click on that and see the 36 archibald finalists. There is a nude man and a nude woman pictured plainly on theage.com.au It’s an outrage to blatantly show porn like that – its frickin ridiculous. The hypocrisy is also so thick, you can carve it.
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From the quick preview I had last week, I would say it is one of the strongest fields ever, and for that reason one of the hardest to pick, notwithstanding a few shockers that somehow made it past the selection committee.[…] John Beard, who my money is on, gives us an intense portrait of abstract artist Hilarie Mais, one of the few paintings that works both figuratively and formally and shares a rare moment of artistic seriousness with Olsen.”
Peter Hill, Portrait of a winner, The Age
“It took a little bit of work, but Sydney painter Paul Jackson, runner-up last year for his Self Portrait with the Last Huia, convinced her to sit for him.
“She felt very exposed by it,” Jackson told Confidential. “She was very reluctant at first … she felt challenged by it,” he said.
The painting of Gretel Killeen in a black strappy dress “shows a more serious side” of the host. Jackson’s favourite bit wasn’t working on Gretel’s face, but another body part. “She has very interesting hands,” he said
Gretel In The Picture, The Daily Telegraph
Unlike his winning portrait, which is dark and complex, Olsen was bright and jovial at Friday’s announcement of the award, grinning beneath a red beret and waving a rabbit-headed walking stick.
Olsen delighted with Archibald art win, Seven.com
Admirers of Olsen’s Self-Portrait Janus-Faced were hard to find. Many gallerygoers said outright that the judges had got it wrong and more realistic works, such as portraits of actors Alex Dimitriades and Bill Hunter, should have taken out Australia’s most prestigious art prize.
“This is a portrait of people [prize] and that doesn’t look like a person to me, like him or anybody else,” Anne Chalkers, of Balmain, said of Olsen’s two-faced, myth-inspired image. “I think it’s an artistic/political decision because the gentleman’s a wonderful painter and he’s old . . . and he’s never won an Archibald.”
Jim Hall, a teacher from Gosford, said he liked Michael Zavros‘s portrait of Dimitriades and the Olsen portrait had left him scratching his head. “I’m not sure I understood it,” he said. “I suspect that this Janus face has something to do with the Roman myth but that’s about as much as I got. For a bloke who looks at art every six months, it was a bit much.”
Julia Stevenson, of Cronulla, was more blunt about the Olsen portrait, saying she felt uncomfortable around it. “I didn’t like it at all,” she said. “It’s grotesque. It’s deformed.”
And the winner is …’obscure, grotesque, deformed, awful’, The Sun Herald
“This is the second year that Michael Zavros has entered the Archibald Prize – and the second year his painting has been hung among the finalists. “The first year I entered just as a bit of fun,” the Brisbane-based artist says. “I’m not really interested in portraits, but this year I decided to go with something more formal. The Archibald is such a big institution, it’s hard to ignore.”
It’s All Greek, The Courier Mail
Unlike his winning portrait, which is dark and complex, Olsen was bright and jovial at yesterday’s announcement of the award, grinning beneath a red beret and waving a rabbit-headed walking stick.
Former critic pleased to win, The Border Mail
The winner is ironically a departure from the kind of traditional portraiture that Olsen and his colleagues protested all those years ago. Some would argue that the painting isn’t a portrait at all, but rather an allegory.
Full Circle, The Blurb
“About bloody time,” said painter and Herald Sun art reviewer Jeff Makin. “The Archibald has a long history of funny decisions and Sydney-centric self-interest.
“Now, at last, the trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales have come to their senses and given the prize to a great painting.”
Artist Rick Amor, another Archibald finalist this year, said: “I had my money on the Olsen from the start. It was the best painting. He just gets better with age, old John.”
Artist looked to the gods for inspiration, Herald Sun
It would be great to see the Archibald winner, it looked fantastic from what you could see on TV.
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