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 , Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize , at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney.
Criteria
The Sir John Sulman Prize is awarded each year for "the best subject/genre painting and/or murals/mural project executed during the two years preceding the [closing] date", 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.[ 1]
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.[ 1]
List of winners
Source:[ 2]
1939 – Gert Sellheim – Mural decoration on wall of Victorian Government Tourist Bureau, Hotel Australia Building, 272 Collins Street, Melbourne
1940 – Harold Abbott – Vaucluse Interior (painting)
1941 – Douglas Annand – Historical Mural at Bathurst Public School
1942 – Jean Bellette – For Whom the Bell Tolls (painting)
1943 – Elaine Haxton – Mural at le Coq D'Or Restaurant, Sydney
1944 – Jean Bellette – Iphigenia in Tauris (painting)
1945 – Virgil Lo Schiavo – Tribute to Shakespeare, Mural at Sydney University Union
1946 – Sali Herman – Natives carrying wounded soldiers (painting)
1947 – Douglas Annand – Mural, Messrs. Jantzen (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Lidcombe.
1948 – Sali Herman – The Drovers (painting)
1949 – J. Carrington Smith – Bush Pastoral, Mural design for New State Building, Hobart
1950 – Harold Greenhill – Summer Holiday (painting)
1951 – Douglas Annand – Mural, Restaurant, R.M.S. "Oronsay"
1952 – Charles Doutney – 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 – The Voice of Silence (subject painting)
1958 – No Award
1959 – Susan Wright – The Circus (genre painting)
1960 – Leonard French – 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 – Suzy 350 (genre painting)
1969 – Louis James – Spyhole (subject painting)
1970 – Michael Kmit – 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 – Still Life and Comfy II
1975 – (joint) Alan Oldfield Transvestite (for Diane Arbus)
1975 – (joint) Geoffrey Proud – Untitled Jane
1976 – Brett Whiteley – Interior with time past
1977 – Salvatore Zofrea - Woman's life, woman's love 3
1978 – Brett Whiteley – Yellow Nude
1979 – Salvatore Zofrea – The water trap (subject painting)
1980 – Brian Dunlop – The old physics building (genre painting)
1981 – William Delafield Cook – A French family (subject painting)
1982 – Salvatore Zofrea – Psalm 24 (genre)
1984 – Tim Storrier – The Burn
1986 – Wendy Sharpe – Black Sun – Morning and Night, Nigel Thomson – The State Institution
1987 – Marcus Beilby – Crutching the Ewes, Bob Marchant – The Grand Parade Sydney Show
1988 – Bob Marchant – Catching rabbits and yabbies at 5-mile dam
1989 – John Olsen – 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 – Changed into a weeping willow
1999 – Anne Wallace – Secret Paintings
2000 – John Peart – Snailsnake
2001 – Euan Macleod – 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 – 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 – 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 TV [ 3]
2020 – Marikit Santiago – The divine [ 4]
2021 – Georgia Spain – Getting down or falling up [ 5]
2022 – Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro – Raiko and Shuten-dōji [ 6]
2023 – Doris Bush Nungarrayi – Mamunya ngalyananyi (Monster coming) [ 7]
2024 – Naomi Kantjuriny – Minyma mamu tjuta [ 8]
Notes and references
External links
