'The eyes say it all': Archibald Prize People's Choice winner announced
A hyper-realistic portrait of the actor Guy Pearce has taken out the 2018 Archibald Prize People’s Choice award.
Anne Middleton's studio oil of Pearce, projecting a gaze that is bold and direct yet twinged with sadness and vulnerability, was announced the winner at the Art Gallery of NSW.
The award carries a prize purse of $3500 for the artist, the daughter of en plein air painter, Max Middleton.
It took Middleton three sittings to paint her portrait showing the texture of Pearce's skin down to the finest wrinkles and sun freckles.
It was gratifying that the portrait had resonated with the public, she said.
On meeting Pearce she was touched by his warmth and honesty.
A big part of any meaningful portrait was to understand the sitter's internal conflicts.
"The eyes say it all," she said.
Better known for her perfected treatments of the natural world and work that draws on the classical, romantic and baroque artistic traditions, the artist's portrait of Pearce was her first Archibald Prize entry.
The winning self-portrait was selected by popular vote from among 57 Archibald Prize finalists, of which more than half were portraits or self-portraits of artists.
More than 18,000 visitors to the 2018 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes voted with 10,000 visitors providing written comments about their favourite work.
Melbourne art teacher Yvette Coppersmith won the Archibald for a self-portrait.
Middleton said she had long been fascinated by Guy Pearce’s chameleon qualities and wanted to show the real man behind the actor's mask.
The portrait was inspired by early photographic portraits of Indigenous people using tintype photography.
She painted Pearce in the natural light of her studio: one side of his face in deep shadow, speaking of difficult times, and the other side lit to provide an uncompromising, honest and unflinching light.