$50,000 Lester Group Prize

The winning artwork has a scale and presence and the subject’s personality has been captured superbly. The artist has moved beyond the photo realism and creates a sense of nostalgia through the use of sepia tones, cutting the subject out through a white background creates tension between something that is nostalgic, big scale and popping. It’s beautifully painted, very subtle belying the precision that it gives a few paces back. The limited information given by the artist provides a real sense of atmosphere. The soft technique is confident, consistent and feels effortless.  It is a painter’s painting of a painter.

Highly Commended Winners

Combined killer dead photo realist style with a beautiful sense of light, this artwork captures the subject well. The artwork reveals a flawless technique, particularly within the constraint of a black and white. It’s not just hard to do, but difficult to maintain the appeal on an intimate scale. It is incredibly deliberate, precise yet intimate and tender. 

The judges responded to the work’s intimate scale and its luminous quality of light. The fact that the artist decided to have the subject facing away the viewer tells us a lot about his character and personality – there is a sense of diffidence in the man which keeps drawing you back to it. The treatment is confident, warm and bold without being flamboyant. 

$10,000 Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize Winner

The Inaugural peer prize as voted by the finalists

$7,500 Amana Living People's Choice Prize