The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, having been established in 1936. It is now held concurrently with the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

, Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

, at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

(AGNSW), Sydney.

Criteria

The Sir

John Sulman Sir John Sulman (29 August 1849 – 18 August 1934) was an Australian architect. Born in Greenwich, England, he emigrated to Sydney in 1885. From 1921 to 1924 he was chairman of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee and influenced the developm ...

Prize is awarded each year for "the best subject/genre painting and/or murals/mural project executed during the two years preceding the losingdate", and as of 2008 is valued at $20,000. Media may be acrylic, oil, watercolour or mixed media, and applicants must have been resident in Australia for five years."Major art prizes: Sir John Sulman Prize"

. Retrieved 7 August 2008. The definition of the terms as given by the AGNSW is: :A genre painting is normally a composition representing some aspect or aspects of everyday life, and may feature figurative, still-life, interior or figure-in-landscape themes. A subject painting, in contrast to a genre painting, is idealised or dramatised. Typically, a subject painting takes its theme from history, poetry, mythology or religion. In both cases, however, the style may be figurative, representative, abstract or semi-abstract. A mural is a picture that is affixed directly to a wall or ceiling, as part of an architectural and/or decorative scheme.

List of winners

Source: *1940 – Harold Abbott – Vaucluse Interior (painting) *1941 –

Douglas Annand Douglas Shenton Annand (22 March 1903 – 14 December 1976) was an Australian graphic designer and artist. Early life Born at Toowoomba, Queensland, to Frederick Annand and Helen Alice Robinson. Douglas attended Tudor House School, located ...

– Historical Mural at Bathurst Public School *1942 –

Jean Bellette Jean Bellette (occasionally Jean Haefliger; 25 March 1908 – 16 March 1991) was an Australian artist. Born in Tasmania, she was educated in Hobart and at Julian Ashton's art school in Sydney, where one of her teachers was Thea Proctor. In ...

– For Whom the Bell Tolls (painting) *1943 – Elaine Haxton – Mural at le Coq D'Or Restaurant, Sydney *1944 –

– Iphigenia in Tauris (painting) *1945 – Virgil Lo Schiavo – Tribute to Shakespeare, Mural at Sydney University Union *1946 –

Sali Herman Sali Herman (12 February 1898 – 3 April 1993) was a Swiss-born Australian artist, one of Australia's Official War Artists for the Second World War. Life and career Herman arrived in Melbourne in 1937 and enlisted in the Australian Army in ...

– Natives carrying wounded soldiers (painting) *1947 –

– Mural, Messrs. Jantzen (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Lidcombe. *1948 –

– The Drovers (painting) *1949 – J. Carrington Smith – Bush Pastoral, Mural design for New State Building, Hobart *1950 – Harold Greenhill – Summer Holiday (painting) *1951 –

– Mural, Restaurant, R.M.S. "Oronsay" *1952 –

Charles Doutney Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

– Darlinghurst Road (painting) *1953 – Eric Smith – Convicts Berrima 1839, Mural at Old Court House, Berrima *1954 – Wallace Thornton – Sculptor and Model (painting) *1955 – Wesley Penberthy – Oriental Mural (mural design) *1956 – Harold Greenhill – Prawning at Night (genre painting) *1957 –

Michael Kmit Michael Kmit ( uk, Михайло Кміт) (25 July 1910 in Stryi, Lviv – 22 May 1981 in Sydney, Australia) was a Ukrainian painter who spent twenty-five years in Australia. He is notable for introducing a neo-Byzantine style of painting ...

– The Voice of Silence (subject painting) *1958 – No Award *1959 – Susan Wright – The Circus (genre painting) *1960 –

Leonard French Leonard William French OBE (8 October 1928 – 10 January 2017) was an Australian artist, known principally for major stained glass works. French was born in Brunswick, Victoria to a family of Cornish origin. His stained glass creation ...

– The Burial (subject painting) *1961 – Robin Norling – Sea Movement and Rocks (mural design) *1962 – John Rigby – Children Dancing (genre painting) *1963 – Roy Fluke – Spring Walk (subject painting) *1964 – Ken Reinhard – The Private Public Preview (genre painting) *1965 – Gareth Jones-Roberts – Grape-pickers and Vineyards (subject painting) *1966 – Louis James – It's Hot in Town (genre painting) *1967 – Cec Burns – Exercise in Variegation (subject painting) *1968 –

Tim Storrier Tim Storrier AM (born 13 February 1949, Sydney) is an Australian artist who won the 2012 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize with ''The Lunar Savant'', a portrait of fellow artist McLean Edwards. Tim won the 2012 Archibald Prize for a 'facel ...

– Suzy 350 (genre painting) *1969 – Louis James – Spyhole (subject painting) *1970 –

– Philopena (genre painting) *1971 – James Meldrum – Pyramid Shelf (subject painting) *1972 – Peter Powditch – Sun-torso 128 (Bunch) (genre painting) *1973 – Eric Smith – The Painter Transmogrified and Mrs. Smith (subject painting) *1974 –

Keith Looby Keith Looby (born 1940 in Sydney, Australia), is an Australian artist who won the Archibald Prize in 1984 with a portrait of Max Gillies. Early life and education Looby was raised in the Sydney suburbs of Newtown and Bondi. He studied at Ea ...

– Still Life and Comfy II *1975 – (joint) Alan Oldfield Transvestite (for Diane Arbus) *1975 – (joint)

Geoffrey Proud Geoffrey Robert Proud, although having had no formal training, held his first solo exhibition at the age of sixteen, and has had his work exhibited in all states with over 80 solo exhibitions and in excess of 100 group exhibitions to his credit. ...

– Untitled Jane *1976 –

Brett Whiteley Brett Whiteley AO (7 April 1939 – 15 June 1992) was an Australian artist. He is represented in the collections of all the large Australian galleries, and was twice winner of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes. He held many exhibitions ...

– Interior with time past *1977 –

Salvatore Zofrea Salvatore Zofrea OAM (born 1946) is an Italo-Australian artist and painter.Marlene Antico Fine Arts'Zofrea ExhibitionAccessed 06-20-2008 Life and work Zofrea was born in Borgia Italy, on the 1st January 1946, and emigrated to Australia in 19 ...

- Woman's life, woman's love 3 *1978 –

– Yellow Nude *1979 –

– The water trap (subject painting) *1980 – Brian Dunlop – The old physics building (genre painting) *1981 –

William Delafield Cook William Delafield Cook AM (1936–2015) was an Australian artist who was known for his photorealistic landscapes. He won a number of awards, including the Order of Australia. Early life Delafield Cook was born in Melbourne, Australia on 28 Feb ...

– ''A French family'' (subject painting) *1982 –

– ''Psalm 24'' (genre) *1984 –

– ''The Burn'' *1986 –

Wendy Sharpe Wendy Sharpe (born 1960 in Sydney) is an Australian artist who lives and works in Sydney and Paris. She is the only child of British parents and has a Russian Jewish heritage. Her father is the writer and historian Alan Sharpe. She counts ...

– Black Sun – Morning and Night, Nigel Thomson – The State Institution *1987 –

Marcus Beilby Marcus Charles Beilby (born 20 November 1951, in Western Australia), is an Australian realist painter. Beilby grew up in the Perth suburb of Mount Pleasant. He was educated at Applecross Senior High School and the Claremont Technical College, ...

– Crutching the Ewes, Bob Marchant – The Grand Parade Sydney Show *1988 – Bob Marchant – Catching rabbits and yabbies at 5-mile dam *1989 –

John Olsen John Wayne Olsen, AO (born 7 June 1945) is a former Australian politician, diplomat and football commissioner. He was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001. He is now President of the Federal Liberal Party, C ...

– Don Quixote Enters the Inn *1990 – Robert Hollingworth – Going Away/Looking Back *1991/92 – Kevin Connor – Najaf (Iraq) June 1991 *1992/93 – John Montefiore – Life Series *1993/94 – Noel McKenna – Boy Dressed as Batman 2 (Diptych) *1995 – Juli Haas – By the Banks of Her Own Lagoon *1996 – Aida Tomescu – Grey-to-Grey *1997 – Kevin Connor – The Man with itchy fingers and other figures Gare du Nord *1998 –

Robert Jacks Robert Jacks (8 March 1943, Melbourne—14 August 2014, Castlemaine) was an Australian painter, sculptor and printmaker. Born in Melbourne, Australia. He studied sculpture from 1958 to 1960 at the Prahran Technical College, Melbourne, and ...

– Changed into a weeping willow *1999 – Anne Wallace – Secret Paintings *2000 – John Peart – Snailsnake *2001 –

Euan Macleod Euan Macleod (born 1956) is a New Zealand-born artist. Macleod was born in Christchurch, New Zealand and moved to Sydney, Australia in 1981, where he lives and works. He received a Certificate in Graphic Design from Christchurch Technical Col ...

– Exquisite Corpse with Fire, Highly commended: Elisabeth Cummings Harbour Light *2002 – Guan Wei – Gazing into deep space no. 9 *2003 – Eric Smith – Reflection *2004 – Allan Mitelman – Untitled *2005 – Sandro Nocentini – :File:SandroNocentini MySonHasTwoMothers2005.jpg#filelinks *2006 –

Jiawei Shen Shen Jiawei (born 1948) is a Chinese-Australian painter. He is a winner of the 2006 Sir John Sulman Prize. Life and work Shen Jiawei was born in Shanghai and emigrated to Australia in 1989 after he was compelled to leave China because he paint ...

– Peking treaty 1901 *2007 – David Disher – Axis of Elvis *2008 – Rodney Pople – Stage fright *2009 – Ivan Durrant – ANZAC Day Match *2010 – Michael Lindeman – Paintings, prints & wall hangings *2011 – Peter Smeeth – The artist's fate *2012 –

Nigel Milsom Nigel Milsom is an Australian painter. Early life Milsom was born in 1975 in the southern New South Wales city of Albury. He completed a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) at the University of Newcastle in 1998, and then undertook postgraduate st ...

– ''Judo House pt 4 (Golden mud)'' *2013 – Victoria Reichelt – ''After (books)'' *2014 – Andrew Sullivan – ''T-rex (tyrant lizard king)'' *2015 – Jason Phu – ''I was at yum cha when in rolled the three severed heads of Buddha: fear, malice and death'' *2016 – Esther Stewart – ''Flatland dreaming'' *2017 – Joan Ross – ''Oh history, you lied to me'' *2018 –

Kaylene Whiskey Kaylene Whiskey, is a Pitjantjatjara artist from Indulkana, a remote Aboriginal community, in South Australia. Whiskey is a contemporary Aboriginal artist who is exhibited in many important Australian galleries and won the 2018 Sir John Sulman ...

– ''Kaylene TV'' *2020 – Marikit Santiago – ''The divine'' *2021 – Georgia Spain – ''Getting down or falling up'' *2022 – Clare Healey and Sean Cordeiro – ''Raiko and Shuten-dōji''

Notes and references

External links

Art Gallery of New South Wales
– Sir John Sulman Prize * Lionel Hornibrook Jago – Sulman Prize finalist {{Authority control Australian art awards Awards established in 1936 1936 establishments in Australia