Archibald Prize 2026 as it happened: Richard Lewer wins for Iluwanti Ken portrait; Gaypalani Wanambi claims Wynne Prize, Lucy Culliton takes out Sulman Prize

Richard Lewer has won this year’s Archibald Prize for a portrait of Iluwanti Ken.

The painting was announced the winner of the $100,000 prize at the Art Gallery of NSW, selected unanimously by gallery trustees from a near record 1034 entries and 59 finalists.

Lewer said he was a “lucky man” to paint Iluwanti Ken, a Pitjantjatjara elder and artist from Tjala Arts in South Australia’s APY Lands. “Making art is a very lonely sport, I’ve always said that.”

He added that he was: “Chuffed to be here.”

His winning Archibald subject is recognised for her large-scale ink drawings of mother eagles hunting – works that give expression to her Tjukurpa, or deep ancestral knowledge. Lewer described the opportunity to paint her as “a treat, honour and absolute privilege”.

The two artists were already familiar with each other through shared exhibitions and gallery representation. To create the portrait, Lewer travelled to the APY Lands for the sitting.

While Ken is a small woman in person, she carried an “immense, quiet authority felt immediately without being asserted”, Lewer says in his artist statement.

The portrait is life-sized, painted with pigments on unprimed canvas – a technical challenge that allows little room for error.

Lewer chose a yellow ochre background to hold the intensity of the desert heat and light, and included traces of paint on Ken’s arm to acknowledge her as a working artist, noting that her bright clothing is “inseparable from her spirit”.

Toolah the greyhound, the subject of this year’s Sulman Prize winner, is the “Mona Lisa of the art world”, according to artist and owner Lucy Culliton.

“Her eyes follow you around the room,” declared Culliton, who was overwhelmed to finally land one of the big three prizes after being a finalist on multiple occasions.

“It’s a love hate relationship with the art gallery of New South Wales and the trustees, I guess,” she said. “Because my painting might be hung, and then the following year, it’s not. So I feel that disappointment, then I don’t go in for a year, and then I forget, and then I go again.”

Toolah is one of seven greyhounds owned by Culliton, a passionate advocate for animal rights.

“They’re beautiful dogs, and they don’t deserve to be in cages. They need couches,” she said. “Toolah is the prettiest of my dogs. She is a lovely blonde brindle. And she always sits in this chair. Every time I see her in that chair, I’ve got to paint her.”

Culliton’s only regret was that Toolah wasn’t on hand (or paw) at the gallery to lap up the adulation.

“She’s very social, she loves people and she would have loved to say woof to everyone,” she said. “She’ll get all the hugs and kisses when I get home.”

I held zero envy for the Archibald Prize judges this year, charged with picking a winner that is right for the times.

They were spoiled for choice with an array of artistically strong portraits, while also navigating a febrile domestic and geopolitical landscape.

Choosing an entertainer would have misread the mood, choosing a campaigner or activist could have leant too heavily into it – landing on Richard Lewer’s beautiful, powerful portrait of APY Pitjantjatjara elder Iluwanti Ken strikes the perfect balance.

Rendered life-size and on unprimed canvas drenched in yellow ochre-coloured paint, Ken, in her trademark colourful clothing, shoulders thrown back in cheerful defiance, appears to hover like a cutout staring at the viewer with calm expectation.

Lewer’s portrait of Ken is a firm nod to 65,000 years of continuous cultural influence, Aboriginal Australia’s gift to us all, in the perspective it brings to the current mood.

The portrait is an instant classic from a veteran Archibald finalist and long-time AGNSW favourite, chosen by one of the more art-literate judging panels in the prize’s recent history.

Behind the scenes at our temporary Archie’s bureau:

Reflecting on his Archibald win, Lewer said he was feeling “deeply humbled”.

“I feel deeply humbled to have won the Archibald Prize, and especially happy that this recognition brings a spotlight to Iluwanti [Ken], which was always my intention with this portrait,” he said in a press release.

“Iluwanti is the most beautiful woman, and it was a complete treat to spend time with her and to be able to paint her on Country. I have been a finalist many times and I never expected to win, but that makes this so exciting.”