The 2017 Archibald Prize for portrait painting - review

The inner stillness of Eileen Kramer: Andrew Lloyd Greensmith

The perennial social voyeur's exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW, the Archibald (or 'Archies' as they are affectionately known) is on again for 2017. Each year this exhibition attracts a wider public audience than is normally the case for art exhibitions at the state gallery due to the subjects of the paintings and their portrayal. Which painters are finalists, whom are the subjects and how are they being presented on canvass attracts more than its fair share of commentary and opinion.

This year, the Trustees of the AGNSW chose  Mitch Cairns portrait of his partner, Agatha Gothe-Snape as the winner of the $100,000 prize money which in the true spirit of the competition attacted criticism and controversy. The overall selection of 43 finalists is nonetheless very solid with a range of excellent portraits painted by Tony Costa, Lucy Culliton, Anh Do, Robert Hannaford, Peter Smeeth, Natasha Walsh, Marc Eetherington, Jun Chen, Nicholas Harding to name a few. The subjects themselves have a broad range of connection to the arts including retired art dealer Ray Hughes, former politician Michael Chaney, TV morning show presenter Lisa Wilkinson, philanthropist Ruper Myer AO, actor and theatre producer John Bell, painter John Olsen AO OBE, Professor Gillian Triggs and many self portraits.

The portrait of Eileen Kramer and its painter is synonymous with the often interesting back stories behind many of the paintings. Eileen Kramer, aged 102, is Australia's oldest working dance choreographer and costumer designer and having spent a lifetime travelling the world in her profession returned to Australia at the age of 99. Her portrait was painted by Andrew Lloyd Greensmith who is a plastic surgeon practising at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

The Archibald, Sulman  and Wynne exhibitions run from 29 July to 22 October 2017.