The Portia Geach Memorial Award is an annual prize for Australian female portraitists. The Award was established in 1961 as a testamentary trust by Florence Kate Geach, sister of Australian painter Portia Geach, with an initial endowment of AU£12,000. The first prize given under the aegis of the Award was made in 1965, comprising a £1,000 prize to Jean Appleton for a

self-portrait A self-portrait is a representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by that artist. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century tha ...

. In 2015, the Award was worth A$30,000. The Award aims to support female artists working in the field of

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

painted from life, and is given based upon the field entries submitted to the Award. Under the terms of the initial endowment, the Award is designed to recognise: ''

... the best portraits painted from life of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters or the Sciences by any female artist resident in Australia during the 12 months preceding the date fixed by the Trustees for sending in the pictures and who was born in Australia or was British born or has become a naturalised Australian and whose place of domicile is Australia.

Previous winners

Past winners of the award have been: *2022 – Lynn Savery, ''Kindred Spirits'' *2021 – Marie Mansfield, ''Tilly'' *2020 – Caroline Zilinsky, ''Anthea May or May Not'' (portrait of Anthea Pilko, dancer) *2019 – Sally Robinson, ''Body in a box'' (self-portrait) �
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*2018 – Zoe Young, ''Drawing Storyboards'' (portrait of

Bruce Beresford Bruce Beresford (; born 16 August 1940) is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 50-year career, both locally and internationally in the United States. Beresford's notable films he has directed include '' B ...

) �
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*2017 – Amanda Davies, ''Portrait of Pat Brassington'' �
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*2016 – Jenny Rodgerson, ''Bound by the big red coat'' �
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*2015 – Natasha Bieniek, ''Sahara'' �
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*2014 – Sophie Cape, ''Romper Stomper'' �
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*2013 – Hélène Grove, ''Self Portrait. Getting On'' �
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*2012 – Sally Robinson, ''The Artist's Mother'' �
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*2011 – Kate Stevens, ''Indian Dream'' �
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*2010 – Prudence Flint, ''Scrambled egg'' �
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*2009 – Christine Hiller, ''The Old Painter'' *2008 – Jude Rae, ''Self Portrait 2008 (The Year My Husband Left)'' *2007 – Maryanne Coutts, ''Melbourne'' *2006 – Lucy Culliton, ''Self with Friends'' *2005 – Jude Rae, ''Large Interior (Micky Allan)'' *2004 – Nerrisa Lea, ''The Sheik & Me, Self Portrait with Imagined Portrait of Chad Morgan after Frida Kahlo'' *2003 –

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 a ...

, ''Self Portrait with Tea Cup and Burning Paintings'' *2002 – Vicki Varvaressos, ''Self Portrait with Painting'' *2001 – Mary Moore, ''At Home'' *2000 –

Nancy Borlase Nancy Wilmot Borlase (24 March 1914 – 11 September 2006) was a New Zealand-born Australian artist, known for her landscape-based abstract paintings and portraits, and as an art critic and commentator. Her work is displayed in the National Gall ...

, ''The Sisters: Marie and Vida Breckenridge'' �
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*1999 – Kim Spooner, ''Social Currency (Eva Cox)'' �
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*1998 – Anita Rezevska, ''Self Portrait – Woman from Riga'' *1997 – Maria Isabel, ''Cruz Maria'' *1996 – Su Baker, ''Self Portrait at Six Paces'' *1995 –

, ''Self Portrait with Students, After Adelaide Labille-Guiard'' *1994 –

Jenny Sages Jenny Sages is an Archibald Prize People's Choice Award winning Australian artist born 1933 in Shanghai, China. She is known for her abstract landscape paintings and portraits. She arrived in Australia in 1948. After being expelled from East Sy ...

, ''Ann Thomson'' *1993 – Aileen Rogers, ''Suzanne Mourot'' *1992 –

, ''Nancy Borlase and Laurie Short'' �
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*1991 – Rosemary Valadon, ''

Frances Joseph Frances Joseph is an Australian-born sculptor and academic. She is a full professor at Auckland University of Technology. Academic career Joseph has a BA in visual art from the University of Tasmania and a Master of Fine Art from the Col ...

'' *1990 – Jenny Watson, ''Self Portrait'' *1989 – Jenny Sands, ''Alex Karpin'' *1988 – Margaret Ackland, '' Shay Docking'' *1987 – Christine Hiller, ''Self Portrait'' *1986 – Christine Hiller, ''Self Portrait'' *1985 – Gwen Eichler, ''Dianne Fogwell'' *1984 – Margaret Woodward, ''Madeleine Halliday'' *1983 – Margaret Woodward, ''Self Portrait'' *1982 – Brenda Humble, ''Virginia Hall'' *1981 – Susan Howard, ''Jenny Kee'' *1980 – Judy Pennefather, ''Venie Schulenberg'' *1979 –

Ivy Shore Ivy Shore (14 January 1915 – 25 August 1999; known as Billie Shore; born Ivy Williams) was an Australian painter. Shore was a student of tonal impressionist Graeme Inson, and also Inson's partner for the last 40 years of her life. She was the ...

, ''Kondelea (Della) Elliott'' *1978 – Dora Toovey, ''Senator Neville Bonner'' *1977 – Ena Joyce, ''George Lawrence'' *1976 – Jocelyn Maughan, ''George Bouckley'' *1975 – Mary Brady, ''Elizabeth Rooney'' *1974 – Lesley H Pockley, ''Hugh Paget'' *1973 – Sylvia Tiarks, ''Self Portrait'' *1972 – Elizabeth Cummings, ''Jean Appleton'' *1971 – Mary Brady, ''Larry Sitsky'' �
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*1970 – Dora Toovey, ''Self Portrait in Landscape'' *1969 – Vaike Liibus, ''Guy Warren'' *1968 – Bettina McMahon, ''Self Portrait'' *1967 –

Jo Caddy Josephine Caddy (c. 1916 – 2006) was an American-Australian painter and ceramicist, who worked in the media of acrylic, oil, printmaking, drawing, and ceramics. She focused on portraiture in both her paintings and ceramics, including "people ...

, ''

Lawrence Daws Lawrence Daws (born 1927) is an Australian painter and printmaker, who works in the media of oil, watercolour, drawing, screenprints, etchings and monotypes. In the 1980s he started making computer prints, and was possibly the first establi ...

'' *1966 – Mary Brady, ''Grahame Edgar'' *1965 –

Jean Appleton Jean Appleton (13 September 1911 – 11 June 2003) was an Australian painter, art teacher and printmaker. She worked with oils, watercolour, charcoal, pastel, pencil and India ink. The second of three children and an only daughter, Appleton did ...

, ''Self Portrait''

References

{{Australianartawards Australian art awards 1961 establishments in Australia