The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize and the Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.
It is awarded annually for "the best landscape painting of Australian scenery in oils or watercolours or for the best example of figure sculpture by Australian artists completed during the 12 months preceding the date".
Many of Australia's most famous artists have won the prize, including William Dobell, Brett Whiteley, Hans Heysen, Gloria Petyarre, Lloyd Rees, Fred Williams, William Robinson, Eric Smith, Nyapanyapa Yunupingu, and Sali Herman.
In 2010, the prize awarded was A$25,000, but the painting by Sam Leach which was awarded the prize, was later revealed to be a close copy of the 17th-century painting Boatmen Moored on the Shore of an Italian Lake by Adam Pijnacker. Concern was expressed that the prize had been awarded to a painting which did not fulfil the prize's criteria. Nevertheless, the trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales decided that the award would stand.
List of winners
| Image | Title | Year | Artist | Technique | Dimensions (cm) | Gallery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
The Storm | 1897 | Walter Withers | oil on canvas on hardboard | 119.8 x 179.5 | Art Gallery of New South Wales |
| The last gleam | 1898 | W. Lister Lister | oil on canvas | 183 x 274.5 | ||
 |
Across the black soil plains | 1899 | George Washington Lambert | oil on canvas | 91.6 x 305.5 | Art Gallery of New South Wales |
| Still Autumn | 1900 | Walter Withers | ||||
| Thunderstorm on the Darling | 1901 | William Piguenit | ||||
| In Defence of the Flat | 1902 | James White | ||||
| Glenora | 1903 | Edward Officer | ||||
 |
Mystic Morn | 1904 | Hans Heysen | |||
| A Blaze of Blue Noon | 1905 | Albert J. Hanson | watercolour | |||
 |
The Golden Splendour of the Bush | 1906 | W. Lister Lister | oil on canvas | 239.8 x 190.5 | Art Gallery of New South Wales |
| Portrait, H. Garlick, Esq. | 1907 | G. W. L. Hirst | ||||
| Noontide, Burnside | 1908 | Will Ashton | ||||
 |
Summer | 1909 | Hans Heysen | watercolour | Art Gallery of New South Wales | |
| Mid Song of Birds and Insects Murmuring | 1910 | W. Lister Lister | ||||
 |
Hauling Timber | 1911 | Hans Heysen | oil on canvas | 102.0 x 135.0 | Art Gallery of New South Wales |
| Sydney Harbour, Overlooking Taylors Bay | 1912 | W. Lister Lister | ||||
 |
Federal Capital Site | 1913 | W. Lister Lister | oil on canvas | 159.0 x 284.0 | Historical Memorials Collection |
| Landscape | 1914 | Penleigh Boyd | ||||
| Knowledge, Fine Art and Commerce | 1915 | John Christie Wright | ||||
 |
Morning Light | 1916 | Elioth Gruner | oil on canvas on cardboard | 51.7 x 56.9 | Art Gallery of New South Wales |
| The Wind-swept Marsh Lands | 1917 | W. Lister Lister | ||||
 |
The Grey Road | 1918 | W. B. McInnes | oil on canvas | 123.2 x 154.6 | Art Gallery of New South Wales |
 |
Spring Frost | 1919 | Elioth Gruner | oil on canvas | 157.5 x 206.3 | Art Gallery of New South Wales |
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The Toilers | 1920 | Hans Heysen | watercolour on paper | 73.0 x 86.0 | Art Gallery of South Australia |
 |
Valley of the Tweed | 1921 | Elioth Gruner | oil on canvas | 142.2 x 172.7 | Art Gallery of New South Wales |
 |
The Quarry | 1922 | Hans Heysen | watercolour | 51.0 x 66.7 | Art Gallery of New South Wales |
| Head of an Old Man | 1923 | G. W. L. Hirst | ||||
| An Afternoon in Autumn | 1924 | Hans Heysen | ||||
| A Bush Track | 1925 | W. Lister Lister | ||||
| The Farmyard, Frosty Morning | 1926 | Hans Heysen | ||||
| Head | 1927 | Rayner Hoff | ||||
 |
Afternoon Light, Goulburn Valley | 1928 | Arthur Streeton | oil on canvas mounted on composition board | 51.0 x 76.0 | National Gallery of Australia |
 |
On the Murrumbidgee | 1929 | Elioth Gruner | oil on canvas | 101.6 x 123.2 | Art Gallery of New South Wales |
| Kosciusko | 1930 | Will Ashton | ||||
| Red Gums of the Far North | 1931 | Hans Heysen | ||||
| Brachina Gorge | 1932 | Hans Heysen | ||||
| Youth | 1933 | Lyndon Dadswell | sculpture | Art Gallery of NSW | ||
 |
Murrumbidgee Ranges, Canberra | 1934 | Elioth Gruner | oil on canvas | 51.6 x 89.0 | National Gallery of Australia |
 |
Winter Morning | 1935 | James Muir Auld | oil on canvas on paperboard | 41.3 x 46.3 | Art Gallery of New South Wales |
| Landscape | 1936 | Elioth Gruner | ||||
 |
Weetangera, Canberra | 1937 | Elioth Gruner | oil on canvas on cardboard | 88 x 100.9 | Art Gallery of New South Wales |
| The Approaching Storm | 1938 | Sydney Long | ||||
| Morning Light, Middle Harbour | 1939 | Will Ashton | ||||
| The Lake, Narrabeen | 1940 | Sydney Long | ||||
| Valley Farms | 1941 | Lorna Muir Nimmo | ||||
| Backyards | 1942 | Douglas Watson | ||||
| The Hilltop | 1943 | Douglas Dundas | ||||
| McElhone Stairs | 1944 | Sali Herman | ||||
| Old Grain Stores, Greenaugh, W. A. | 1945 | Douglas Watson | ||||
| January Weather | 1946 | Lance Solomon | ||||
| Sofala | 1947 | Russell Drysdale | oil on canvas on hardboard | 71.7 × 93.1 | Art Gallery of New South Wales | |
| Storm Approaching Wangi | 1948 | William Dobell | oil on cardboard on composition board | 32.5 × 55.5 | ||
| Two Rivers | 1949 | George Lawrence | ||||
| The Harbour from McMahon's Point | 1950 | Lloyd Rees | ||||
| Never Never Creek, Gleniffer | 1951 | Charles Meere | ||||
| Summer at Kanmantoo | 1952 | Charles Bush | ||||
| The River Bend | 1953 | Lance Solomon | ||||
| Cooktown | 1954 | Arthur Evan Reed | ||||
| Townsville Waterfront | 1955 | Charles Bush | ||||
| The Chicory Kiln, Phillip Island | 1956 | L. Scott Pendlebury | ||||
| Constitution Dock, Hobart | 1957 | L. Scott Pendlebury | ||||
| The Cliff | 1958 | Ronald Steuart | ||||
| Harbour Cruise | 1959 | Reinis Zusters | ||||
| Dairy Farm, Victoria | 1960 | John Perceval | ||||
| Landscape, Hill End | 1961 | David Strachan | ||||
| The Devil's Bridge, Rottnest | 1962 | Sali Herman | ||||
| Sandhills on the Darling | 1963 | Sam Fullbrook | ||||
| Trees in a Landscape | 1964 | Sam Fullbrook (joint winner) | ||||
| Landscape | 1964 | David Strachan (joint winner) | ||||
| The Red House | 1965 | Sali Herman | ||||
| Upwey Landscape V | 1966 | Fred Williams | ||||
| Ravenswood I | 1967 | Sali Herman | ||||
| Road to Whistlewood | 1968 | L. Scott Pendlebury | ||||
| The Chasing Bird Landscape | 1969 | John Olsen | ||||
| Redfern, Southern Portal | 1970 | Frederic Henry Bates | ||||
| Karri Country | 1971 | Margaret Woodward | ||||
| Falling Bark | 1972 | Eric Smith | ||||
| Dry Landscape | 1973 | Clem Millward | ||||
| Redfern Landscape | 1974 | Eric Smith | ||||
| Murchison Sand Plain | 1975 | Robert Juniper | ||||
| Mt Kosciusko | 1976 | Fred Williams | ||||
| The Jacaranda Tree (On Sydney Harbour) | 1977 | Brett Whiteley | ||||
| Summer at Carcoar | 1978 | Brett Whiteley | ||||
| Flood Creek | 1979 | Robert Juniper | ||||
| A Waterfall (Strath Creek) | 1980 | William Delafield Cook | ||||
| Hills of Ravensdale | 1981 | David Voight | ||||
| Morning on the Derwent | 1982 | Lloyd Rees | ||||
| Life Along the Coast | 1983 | David Rankin | ||||
| The South Coast After Rain | 1984 | Brett Whiteley | ||||
| The Road to Clarendon, Autumn | 1985 | John Olsen | ||||
| Torso | 1986 | Rosemary Madigan | ||||
| Landscape Painting II | 1987 | Ian Bettinson | ||||
| Fire and Drought near Old Junee | 1988 | Elwyn Lynn | ||||
| Landscape Painting IV | 1989 | Ian Bettinson | ||||
| The Rainforest | 1990 | William Robinson | ||||
| Maschera Femina | 1991–92 | Peter Schipperheyn | ||||
| Open Cut | 1993 | George Gittoes | ||||
| Waratahs Wedderburn Series | 1994 | Suzanne Archer | ||||
| Season of Drought | 1995 | David Aspden | ||||
| Creation Landscape Earth and Sea | 1996 | William Robinson | ||||
| Nandi Moon | 1997 | John Peart | ||||
| Yellow Sound | 1998 | Ann Thomson | ||||
| Leaves | 1999 | Gloria Tammere Petyarre | ||||
| Thong Totems | 2000 | John Dahlsen | ||||
| Piatra | 2001 | Aida Tomescu | ||||
| Remembering Rain | 2002 | Angus Nivison | ||||
| Seated Figure | 2003 | Tim Kyle | ||||
| Untitled | 2004 | George Ward Tjungurrayi | ||||
| The Road to Utopia | 2005 | Jenny Sages | ||||
| The Gap | 2006 | John Beard | ||||
| Winter Nocturne IV | 2007 | Philip Wolfhagen | ||||
| The River is Calm | 2008 | Joanne Currie Nalingu | ||||
| The Amorphous Ones (The Vast Colony of Our Being) | 2009 | Lionel Bawden | ||||
| Proposal for Landscaped Cosmos | 2010 | Sam Leach | oil and resin on wood | 30 × 30 | ||
| Co-Isolated Slave | 2011 | Richard J. Goodwin | ||||
| Waterfall (After Williams) | 2012 | Imants Tillers | ||||
| Namatjira | 2013 | Imants Tillers | ||||
| Oceania High Low | 2014 | Michael Johnson | ||||
| Biophilia | 2015 | Natasha Bieniek | ||||
| Seven Sisters | 2016 | Ken Family Collaborative | ||||
| Antara | 2017 | Betty Kuntiwa Pumani | acrylic on linen | 250 x 200 | ||
| Untitled | 2018 | Yukultji Napangati | acrylic on linen | 244.5 x 183 | ||
| Seven sisters | 2019 | Sylvia Ken | acrylic on linen | 200 x 240 | ||
| Tjoritja | 2020 | Hubert Pareroultja | acrylic on canvas | 183 x 244 | ||
| Garak – night sky | 2021 | Nyapanyapa Yunupingu | earth pigments on board | 244.2 x 244.2 | ||
| Eora | 2022 | Nicholas Hardling | oil on linen | 196.5 x 374.8 | ||
| Inma | 2023 | Zaachariaha Fielding | acrylic on linen | 198.5 x 306.2 | ||
| Nyalala gurmilili | 2024 | Djakaŋu Yunupiŋu | natural pigments on bark | 263 x 154 |
References
- "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 17, 861. New South Wales, Australia. 17 June 1895. p. 1. Retrieved 31 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- "Sydney Art Society". The Age. No. 12, 676. Victoria, Australia. 15 October 1895. p. 6. Retrieved 31 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- "Double dutch: scandal rocks Wynne painting prize" by Michaela Boland, The Australian (14 April 2010)
- "Sam Leach to keep $25,000 Wynne prize despite resemblance to Dutch landscape" by Michaela Boland, The Australian (27 April 2010) (compares both paintings)
- "Archibald Prize Wynne 2022 work: Eora by Nicholas Harding". Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- "Archibald Prize Wynne 2023 work: Inma by Zaachariaha Fielding". Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- Mendelssohn, Joanna (7 June 2024). "Laura Jones wins the 2024 Archibald Prize with a portrait of Tim Winton, part of a grand artistic tradition". The Conversation. Retrieved 7 June 2024.