Laura Jones Wins 2024 Archibald Prize

The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) on June 7 named Laura Jones the winner of the 2024Archibald Prize, given annually in recognition of the best portrait of an individual “distinguished in art, letters, science or politics” painted by an Australian resident. Jones received the AUD 100,000 honor (USD 67,000), for her oil-on-canvas portrait of author and conservationist Tim Winton. A four-time finalist, she is the twelfth woman to win the prize since its 1921 founding.

“[Winton] has worked so hard to save Ningaloo Reef and he said about Ningaloo that it’s a place that could teach us how to get things right,” said Jones in her acceptance speech, referencing Winton’s efforts to protect the 160-mile-long coral reef, which stretches along the coast of Western Australia.

“I thought I’d do a painting of him to shine a light on him and his advocacy for the environment,” Jones told ABC News. “I wanted to convey the landscape in his face to show the emotion of the topics we were talking about.”

Yirrkala-based artist Djakaŋu Yunupiŋu won the AUD 50,000 (USD 33,400) Wynne Prize, given annually for a landscape painting or figurative sculpture depicting Australian scenery. Yunupiŋu was honored for her natural pigment-on-bark paintingNyalala gurmilili, 2024, which shows themiwatj(sunrise side) of the northeasternmost part of Arnhem Land, a vast wilderness that is home to the Yolngu people.

Pitjantjatjara painter Naomi Kantjuriny received the AUD 40,000 (USD 26,700) Sulman Prize for her black-and-white paintingMinyma mamu Tjuta,2024, which depicts women (minyma) in conflict with destructive forces (mamu). The honor is awarded in recognition of a subject painting, genre painting, or mural project.

The winning works are on view at AGNSW alongside of those by the finalists for all three prizes through September 8.