Renowned academic Marcia Langton is thrilled that a portrait of her by artist Angus McDonald has been voted as the people's choice in this year's Archibald Prize.
"I love it too," she told NITV.
"It’s a great work of art, the subject less so nowadays," she said with deadpan wit.
Based in Lennox Head, Bundjalung country northern NSW, McDonald flew to Melbourne to meet with Langton at her home for a live sitting where he says he was able to experience her 'formidable intellect and wisdom' in person.
"It’s a privilege to be able to share Marcia’s inspirational story with a wider audience through this painting," he said.
"Receiving the award is a special honour to me, but equally, it's as much a strong vote of respect and admiration for Marcia Langton and acknowledges the profound part she has played in the struggle for Indigenous recognition and reconciliation in this country for over 50 years.
"Marcia is charismatic, curious, direct and one of our country's deepest thinkers.
"She has a well of stories which she relates with razor-sharp detail and humour, and at the same time, she radiates kindness and warmth."
McDonald said he wanted to portray Professor Langton as both a pivotal figure in Australian history and someone who has lived an incredible life.
"I placed her just right of centre to suggest a sense of stepping away and handing the baton to a younger group of activists after a lifetime of tireless commitment," he said.
She gazes up and to the left to reflect that she has persistently followed her own path.
Professor Langton is a leading academic, writer and activist, and is a descendant of the Yiman and Bidjara nations of Queensland.
A trailblazer in the Aboriginal rights movement, Langton has dedicated her life to the advancement of Indigenous recognition and social justice.
She was a key figure in the ultimately unsuccessful referendum campaign for a First Nations Voice to Parliament in 2023.
The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes are awarded by the Art Gallery of NSW annually.
In 2024, Indigenous artists and subjects featured strongly in all three prizes, considered three of the most prestigious mainstream art awards in the country.
A portrait of Baker Boy by Matt Adnate, called Rhythms of Heritage, won the Packing Room Prize.
Finalists for the Archibald, Australia's richest portrait prize, included Butchulla and Burmese painter Mia Boe's Toe Knee Arm Strong, of popular TV presenter Tony Armstrong, Robert Fielding’s Mayatja (keeper of song and culture) of senior Pitjantjatjara Elder and artist Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin, Thea Anamara Perkins' painting Mum (Hetti), of her mother and art curator Hetti Perkins and Adrian Jangala Robertson's Jumpin' Julie, Yuendumu.
Adrian Jangala Robertson, a Warlpiri man from the Central Western Desert region, has been selected as a finalist in the Wynne and Sulman prizes as well as the Archibald Prize – the first Aboriginal artist to feature in all three competitions in the same year.
The Wynne Prize is presented annually for landscape painting or sculpture.
Djakaŋu Yunupiŋu won the Wynne this year for , a bark painting depicting the miwatj, or ‘sunrise side’ in Yolŋu Matha, relating to the north-easternmost part of Arnhem Land, which receives the first light as the sun rises in the east.
This is the landscape during April and the start of Miḏawarr (the harvest season following the wet), when the earth receives sudden surprise showers during what is meant to be the dry.
For the first time, there are more works by Aboriginal artists than non-Aboriginal artists in the Wynne, with 21 works by Aboriginal artists among the finalists.
The Sulman Prize is awarded for the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project by an Australian artist.
Naomi Kantjuriny, a respected community Elder and a steady leading presence at Tjala Arts in Amata on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, won the Sulman for her work .
A hunter, basket-maker and wood carver, she is also a ngangkari (traditional healer) specialising in women’s and children’s health.
In this work, Minyma mamu tjuta, Kantjuriny depicts mamu (good and bad spirits).
Following the exhibition at the NSW Art Gallery, Archibald Prize 2024 finalist works will tour to five venues across NSW and, for the first time, to the Northern Territory.
Wynne Prize finalist works will tour four venues in regional NSW.
All finalists in the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW until Sunday, September 8.
