Archibald 2022: The Cream of the Crop

Yves Hernot is a philanthropist, photographic artist, art curator, auctioneer, and major patron of the arts in both Australia and France. He is currently a fellow of the Royal Society of NSW. Hernot recently shared his experiences at the 2022 Archibald Prize Ceremony with Le Courrier Australien.

Original text by Yves Hernot FRSN – translation by Audrey McGuire

On Friday May 13, I attended the Archibald (Portraiture), Wynne (Landscape) and Sulman awards at the Art Gallery of NSW (AGNSW), which is still under construction. In December, a gigantic new annex will be opened there, doubling the size of the museum.

This year, the Archibald Prize enters a new century as it celebrates 101 years of existence. Few are aware that this prize was heavily influenced by the events in Paris’ School of Fine Arts and the Salon, when Paris served as the centre of the artistic world at the beginning of the 20^th century.

“Bonjour,” Mr. Archibald would have said.

Journalist John Feltham Archibald was both a Francophile and a francophone. For this reason, he changed his name and became known as Jules François Archibald. At the first ceremony, there was an enormous crowd: people from the artistic world, business, and of course, many artists.

Like every year, the entirety of Australia and its media outlets waited frantically for the announcement of the winners. The laureates of this ceremony are, as you can imagine, celebrated, and sanctified for the rest of their lives. And from this moment forward, they form part of Australian Art History.

This year, you can admire 115 finalist works that have been selected by a jury of very high calibre, including 52 portraits for the Archibald Grand Prize.

The winner of the 2022 Archibald Prize is the artist Blak Douglas. He is 52 years old, of Koori origin in southern New South Wales. Throughout his speech, Douglas proudly spoke of his heritage:

“I come from Scottish, Irish, German, and English heritage, as well as the Dhungutti group from the north coast of New South Wales.”

Like many artists of this generation, Blak Douglas began his career at the Tap Gallery which I have sponsored for many years. Lesley Dimmick OAM, director of the Tap Gallery, remembers this well. Over the past year, Blak has also been present in my own personal collection of paintings. He is an artist of great and unique talent, already recognised as one of the most influential Australian artists of the 21^st century.

Another painting that captured my attention is one by the artist Jude Rae, which depicts Dr. Saul Griffith working in his Redfern studio. Like myself, Dr. Griffith is a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW, as well as an academic, scientist and researcher. In fact, he is the ex-climate and energy advisor to US president Joe Biden. This painting was Highly Commended by the Archibald Jury (see the photo in progress below.)

I also admire the portrait of the journalist Laura Tingle painted by James Powditch, and that of Wendy Sharpe (Self-portrait with Ghosts), a previous winner of the Archibald prize.

I have included in my photos below, a beautiful work by the artist Nicholas Harding entitled “Eora;” the winner of the Wynne Prize. Harding also made his debut at the Tap Art Gallery (see image.)

All the finalists of the 2022 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes will be exhibited at the NSW Art Gallery from June 14 until August 28, 2022.

Afterwards, the 2022 Archibald prize will travel to six exhibition sites beginning in Melbourne, Victoria, before travelling throughout regional NSW, to offer those outside Sydney the possibility to view the finalists of the 2022 Archibald Prize.