What is it about the “Archie’s”?

From the very first competition in 1921 the Archibald Prize www.thearchibaldprize.com.au/ has created controversy.

In 1943 William Dobell won with a portrait of his friend Joshua Smith. It was argued by many that it was in fact a caricature and therefore not eligible for the prize. Fellow artists Mary Edwards and Joseph Wolinski took it to court and lost.

In 1976 John Bloomfield was found to have painted his subject from a photo and he was stripped of the prize.

In 2004 Craig Ruddy won the prize with his wonderful portrait of Aboriginal actor, David Gulpilil. Craig had used mainly charcoal and fellow entrant Tony Johansen took the matter to court arguing that it had not been ‘painted’.

At our house the arguments are a lot less learned. We hate photorealism, so can’t possibly understand why that dreadful portrait of Neil Finn by Martin Ball could have won the packing room prize. We all agree that the only reason the Heath Ledger portrait came second was because he died recently. And we universally loved the Del Kathryn Barton self-portrait. None of us have actually been to the exhibition yet, but it doesn’t stop us from having an opinion and I am sure we will have a lot more to say about it when we do.

How do you get to be a finalist? I have a friend who has been entering for years and has never been one. I have heard of people who are chosen first time round. You may argue that my friend’s work isn’t good enough but honestly have you seen some of the work that gets chosen (see my comments on photorealism)? Someone was telling me it all depends on what art school you went to…

I guess the whole reason that the Archibalds are so controversial is because there are so many things to like or dislike about each entry. You can hate the medium used, the style it is painted in or the subject of the portrait. You can argue that it is too abstract or too real, too modern or too traditional. You can argue about just about anything but you can’t argue that we all love the Archibalds.

Every year I wait with bated breath to hear who the lucky winner is and see whether I agree with the judges.