The Lester Prize for Portraiture

Medium / category: Portraiture

Requirements: Entrants must submit a work which is depicts a portrait of a sitter, executed in (but not restricted to) oil, acrylic, watercolour, pastel, textile, pencil, charcoal, ink or mixed media (works of sculpture, photography, or digital media are not eligible)

Eligibility: Artists must an Australian Resident of 18 years or older

Associated institutions: The Art Gallery of Western Australia

The Lester Prize is managed by The Lester Inc, a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2007 to provide an avenue for artists to exhibit works of portraiture within Western Australia. Working with government, peak arts bodies and community groups, it helps to diversify WA’s local economy, grow cultural tourism, and activate spaces through creative placemaking. The Lester Prize provides locals and visitors with the opportunity to engage with the artform each year in a format that puts the artists and community front-and-centre. The Lester Prize’s exhibitions and public events program is targeted at diverse groups in the community and includes artist floor talks, workshops, live art demonstrations and pop-up community activations across the city.

Awards

The Lester Prize pool includes $50,000 cash, $15,000 Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize (selected by artists’ peers), the $10,000 People’s Choice Prize kindly donated by the Baldock Family (selected by the general public), the $10,000 Minderoo Foundation Spirit Prize (selected by the Minderoo Foundation), the $5,000 Ashhurst Emerging Artist prize (selected by our judges), $5,000 Barton Family Foundation Installers’ Prize (chosen by AGWA installers) and two Highly Commended Prizes which will be awarded $2,000 cash, a $550 domestic art transport voucher, $500 framing voucher and $250 art supplies voucher each.

Previous Judges
2023:

Alan R. Dodge AM, Board of the National Portrait Gallery, Former Director of the Art Gallery of Western Australia

Gina Fairley, National Visual Arts Editor of ArtsHub Australia

Emma Bitmead, Associate Curator of Historical Art at The Art Gallery of Western Australia

2022:

Dr Clarissa Ball, Director of the UWA Institute of Advanced Studies

Amy Barrett-Lennard, Director of the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA)

Linton Partington, Founding Director of Linton & Kay Galleries

Bahar Sayed, Curatorial Assistant at AGWA

Tyrown Waigana, artist and designer

Previous Winners and Finalists
2023:

Tarryn Gill, Limber (self-portrait in relief)
Winner: Richard Lester Prize for Portraiture

Minjung Kang, Silence
Winner: Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize, Barton Family Foundation Installers’ Prize, Highly Commended

Liz Stute, Jess
Winner: Minderoo Foundation Spirit Prize

Kelly Maree, Ellia
Winner: Baldock Family People’s Choice

India Mark, Studio self-portrait
Winner: Ashurt Emerging Artist Prize

Sarah Paton, Memento mori
Winner: Highly Commended

2022:

Sophia Alone, Respect Grandfather Kutri Makanykarra
Winner: Minderoo Foundation Spirit Prize/ Richard Lester Prize for Portraiture

Greg Creek, Diecast-speech painting (picture of David Sequeira)
Winner: Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize

Adrian Lazzaro, Self Portrait
Winner: Barton Family Foundation Installers’ Prize

Sarah Anthony, Breathe
Winner: Baldock Family People’s Choice

Julia Donney, Smoko
Winner: Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize

Mark Chu, Here in Spirit
Winner: Highly Commended

Nicholas Hopwood, Quest
Winner: Highly commended

2021:

Emily Song, 饺子 (dumplings)
Winner: Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize/ Minderoo Foundation Spirit Prize

Sidney Tapia, Through you
Winner: Installers’ Prize/ Richard Lester Prize for Portraiture

Illyampi Victor Burton, Mamu
Winner: Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize

Desiree Crossing, The night commute
Winner: Baldock Family People’s Choice

Narelle Zeller, Brave new worker
Winner: Highly Commended

Sally Ryan, Never again
Winner: Highly Commended

2020:

Serena Cowie, The conversation
Winner: Lester Group Prize

Sebastian Galloway, Warm air, cool light
Winner: Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize

Stacey Evangelou, Warrior by spirit
Winner: Minderoo Foundation Spirit Prize Winner

Jess Le Clerc, Shadow and bloom
Winner: People’s Choice Award Winner donated by the Baldock Family

Kierah Falkner Babbel, Race car ya ya
Winner: Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize Winner

Daevid Anderson, The dying slave – study
Winner: Highly Commended

Joshua Cocking, Making plants – a portrait of Franque
Winner: Highly Commended

2019:

Liam Nunan, Jonny Hawkins
Winner: Richard Lester Prize for Portraiture

Lori Pensini, Banksia grandis—love begets love
Winner: Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize

Jordan Andreotta, Sr Flora
Winner: Baldock Family People’s Choice Prize

Jeff Bryant, Lazarus
Winner: Highly Commended

Nicole O’Loughlin, The artist Mother is present
Winner: Highly Commended

2018:

Antoinette Barbouttis, Alexandra
Winner: Lester Group Prize

Benjamin Aitken, Jack
Winner: Tony Fini Foundation Artist

Jaq Grantford, Just An Old Drag Queen
Winner: Baldock Family People’s Choice Prize

Ruth Leigh, May Wokka Chapman
Winner: Highly Commended

Peter Wegner, Medicated Man Portrait Of G.D.
Winner: Highly Commended

2017:

Jana Vodesil-Baruffi, Black Swan
Winner: Lester Group Prize

Marie Mansfield, Mertim
Winner: Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize

Nick Stathopoulos, Deng
Winner: Baldock Family People’s Choice Prize​

Effie Pryer, Emily Saal
Winner: Highly Commended

Natasha Walsh, Natasha Walsh (Self-Portrait)
Winner: Highly Commended

2016:

Rachel Coad, Indian Summer
Winner: Lester Group Prize

Mark Tweedie, It Wasn’t Supposed To Be Like This
Winner: Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize

Tom Macbeth, The Trailblazer
Winner: Amana Living People’s Choice Prize

Daniel Smith, Thinking Of You, Shakespeare
Winner: Highly Commended

Kate Kurucz, Dad and Clams
Winner: Highly Commended

2015:

Marcus Callum, Wrecking Ball
Winner: Lester Group Prize

Jodi Daley, Carving New Life Into My Country
Winner: People’s Choice Prize

Jandamarra Cadd, Storyteller
Winner: St John of God Health Care Online Voting

Jerome Davenport, Nic
Winner: H.U. Kendall & Co Art Gift Voucher

Olivia Samec, Ernst Samec, Architect, Migrant Survivor
Winner: Highly Commended

Joshua Cocking, Dinner Lament (Three Self Portraits)
Winner: Highly Commended

2014:

Iain Dean, Pilar Mata Dupont
Winner: Lester Group Prize

Joel Rea, Chris Hemsworth
Winner: St John of God Health Care People’s Choice Prize

Andrew Bonneau, David Wearing Yukata
Winner: Highly Commended

Benjamin Aitken, Stefan
Winner: Highly Commended

Claire Bridge, Sanctuary
Winner: Highly Commended

Image: Sophia Alone, Respect Grandfather Kutri Makanykarra, 2022. Acrylic on canvas, 44.5 x 44.5 cm. Courtesy: the artist and the Lester Prize.#

Information up to date from January 19 2024

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