Mosman Art Prize

Medium / category: Painting

Requirements: Entrants must submit an original painting in any painting medium

Eligibility: Permanent Australian residents aged 16 and over

Associated institution: Mosman Art Gallery

Established in 1947, the Mosman Art Prize is a national painting prize and is the longest running and most prestigious municipal art prize in Australia. It was founded by the artist, architect and arts advocate, Alderman Allan Gamble, at a time when only a small handful of art prizes were in existence in Australia and the community had very little support and few opportunities to exhibit their work. Winning entries form the basis of the Mosman Art Collection, a valuable and historic collection that surveys Australian painting since 1947.

Previous winners form a roll call of Australian art luminaries; Grace Cossington Smith, Guy Warren, Jenny Sages, Noel McKenna, Cressida Campbell, Jumaadi, Elisabeth Cummings, Jasper Knight, Guan Wei, Natasha Walsh, Michael Zavros and Salote Tawale. Margaret Olley was the inaugural winner in 1947.

The Mosman Art Prize is open to original paintings in any painting medium such as watercolour, acrylic and oil. To qualify for adjudication, the work must be substantially painted and can incorporate to a lesser extent other mediums such as drawing (pencil, pastel, charcoal, etc.), printmaking, photography and collage.

Awards

The award categories include the Mosman Art Prize, the Margaret Olley Commendation Award, the Allan Gamble Award and the Guy Warren Emerging Artists’ Award.

The Mosman Art Prize is an acquisitive award of $50,000 sponsored by Mosman Council.

Previous Winners and Finalists
2023:

David Griggs, The stitches and the melanoma, 2023
Winner: Mosman Art Prize

Huseyin Sami, Bucket Painting, 2022
Winner: Margaret Olley Commendation Award

Lewis Ihnatko, Red River, 2023
Winner: Allan Gamble Award

Heath Nock, The Weirdos, 2023
Winner: Guy Warren Emerging Artist Award

2022:

Jacobus Capone, Fallen Golden Wattle and Seawater, 2021
Winner: Mosman Art Prize

Dianne Tchumut, Turtles Hibernating, 2021
Winner: Margaret Olley Commendation Award

Eliza Gosse, Almost Kareela, 2021
Winner: Allan Gamble Award

Sebastian Galloway, Summer Arrangement in Suspended Animation, 2021
Winner: Guy Warren Emerging Artists’ Award

Notable Winners:

Artists who have won the Mosman Art Prize include Margaret Olley, Guy Warren, Grace Cossington Smith, Weaver Hawkins, Nancy Borlase, Lloyd Rees, Elisabeth Cummings, Adam Cullen, Michael Zavros, Natasha Walsh and Salote Tawale.

Image: Mosman Art Gallery, Mosman Art Prize, 2022. Photo: Jacquie Manning. Courtesy: the artists and Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney.

Information up to date from January 19 2024

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