2018 Black Swan Prize for Portraiture | Finalists anounced

From over 500 entries, 40 finalists from across Australia have been chosen for the ‘2018 Black Swan Prize for Portraiture’, Western Australia’s premier art prize. Now in its twelfth year, the prize pool available to professional, emerging and young artists is over $70,000, making it the third richest prize in Australia after the Archibald and Moran competitions.

A select group of works depicted subjects that were chosen for the significant part they played in the artist’s life and were therefore able to reveal a real sense of intimacy with their sitters. Typical mediums such as oil, acrylic, watercolour, charcoal, pencil, chalk and metal leaf on canvas, paper and wood were used; while mirrors, nuts, bolts, perspex and even a swag canvas were added to this year’s collection.

There are a number of 2018 finalists who have been previous finalists in the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture including Benjamin Aitken, Daevid Anderson, Daryl Austin, Daniel Butterworth, Josh Cocking, David Disher, Mark Dober, Esther Erlich, Kendal Gear, Mertim Gökalp, Jaq Grantford, Janne Kearney, Nicole Kelly, Marie Mansfield, Kerry McInnis, Joanne Morris, Lori Pensini, Andy Quilty, Liz Stute, Mark Thompson, Mark Tweedie, Peter Wegner and Chee Yong.

A finalists’ exhibition will be on public display at the Art Gallery of Western Australia from 27 October to 26 November 2018.