Yvette Coppersmith's self-portrait wins the 2018 Archibald Prize

Yvette Coppersmith's Self-portrait, after George Lambert (detail).

Ten years ago, Yvette Coppersmith was painting portraits of well known art world figures. Today she expressed her appreciation for the friendships and networks she’s made in the art world in a different way – in her speech accepting the $100,000 Archibald Prize for her Self-portrait, after George Lambert.

Her large-scale portrait, which also carries more than a hint of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (whom Coppersmith had originally hoped to paint) was the trustee judges’ unanimous choice for the 2018 prize, from a pool of almost 800 entries.

It was a fitting speech in an Archibald exhibition where, of the 57 finalists, 41 are of sitters from the art world, either self-portraits, portraits of other artists, or portraits of figures like collectors or dealers. Though prize curator Anne Ryan downplays the skew. 'Artists painting self-portraits for the Archibald prize is not a new thing,' she says. 'For example, Henry Hanke won with a self-portrait in 1934, as did Normand Baker in 1937. One of the most infamous portraits – Dobell’s portrait of Joshua Smith in 1943 – was one artist painting another. Certainly no sitter is more available that oneself!'

Coppersmith’s portrait is a case in point. She tried Ardern first but when she wasn’t available, she chose to channel some of what she admired into a self-portrait instead.

Then there’s Stephanie Monteith’s self-portrait, which shows her bent over a table writing a letter. It’s called The letter – I really wanted to paint Germaine Greer, but she said 'no' (self-portrait).

From Ryan’s experience working on the prize, sitters from the visual arts make up a 'strong contingent' every year across the whole pool of entries. She adds: 'It is also understandable that for many artists to paint a successful portrait they feel they must know their subject well – so drawing from their peer group of artists would seem a natural choice.'

She does see one shift, however. 'Certainly, I sense that for many of the self-portraits this year, some artists are painting themselves in a particularly honest and candid way. For example, after having experienced a monumental event such as new fatherhood, mental illness or cancer treatment; or following much thought about the nature of portraiture and representation in finalist works by artists such as Tsering Hannaford and Amanda Davies.'

Vincent Namatjira's Studio self-portrait (acrylic on linen, 152 x 198 cm), an Archibald Prize finalist.

And yet, the number of sitters from the visual arts (and lack of suits and sportspeople) feels significant in relation to the gallery’s own description of the Archibald exhibition as a showcase of portraits 'depicting the who’s who of Australia'.

This is not to say that the net effect feels narcissistic exactly. Tom Polo’s generous portrait of artist Joan Ross, I once thought I'd do anything for you (Joan), says a great deal about the support that artists offer each other and the collegiate networks that keep the whole game afloat. William Mackinnon’s self-portrait, The long apprenticeship, uses a disjointed style to humbly convey a sense of his own path in the art world. There is not a lot of hubris here.

Particularly in the days following a fairly arts-free budget, many of the portrait’s in this year’s Archibald raise interesting discussions around what it means to be an artist in contemporary Australia, and the economic and social value we put on culture.

Other works that convey a sense of both the sitter and the world beyond the art world. Guy Maestri’s The fourth week of parenthood (self-portrait) is a shellshocked, bruise of a painting. Angela Tiatia and India Marks, in very different ways, both capture young women flickering between resilience and vulnerability. Vincent Namitjira’s commended self-portrait is buzzing with energy. He paints himself in the studio, in front of a canvas where he’s put his grandfather Albert Namitjira in the driver’s seat of the car he’s painting.

Winner of the Sir John Sulman Prize 2018: Kaylene Whiskey's Kaylene TV, acrylic on linen, 76 x 101 cm.

In the neighbouring galleries, Kaylene Whiskey’s energetic Kaylene TV (featuring Dolly Parton and Cher) won the Sulman Prize for subject and genre painting. Another dominating presence in the hang is Abdul Abdullah’s deceptively simple untitled painting carrying the text 'WHY CAN’T I BE ANGRY'. There is no question mark, and the work swings from bold assertion, to tentative request, to rhetorical question and resigned disappointment. The work relates to the policing of people of colour, and the racist expectations that they act meekly or gratefully.

Then there is Joan Ross’s Future Hawke (what have we done to you), created, as the artist says, while waiting for a delivery from Woolies. Ross transforms an early colonial illustration of Australian birdlife into a prophet of the future – albeit a headless and incapacitated one.

In the Wynne Prize for landscapes, this year a new $10,000 prize was announced for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artist. This inaugural Roberts Family Prize was won by a magisterial painting called Ngayuku ngura (my country) by Wawirya Burton. The main prize was awarded to Yukultji Napangati for a commanding large-scale work about a rock hole site. She couldn’t attend, said dealer Chris Hodges who accepted the prize on her behalf, because she was off doing important conservation work, that is, killing cats. The work was hung alongside a deep green Maringka Baker canvas, where Baker’s masterful handling of tone made the work feel like watching a cloud passing over the land.

Another highlight was Hiromi Tango’s Red Moon, which could just as easily be considered an interior landscape as a depiction of a blood moon. Here a circle of bright, thread-wrapped coils closes in on mirrored surface, which acts like a portal or aperture. The work suggests danger, but also a way through.

The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman exhibitions continue to 9 September before touring to regional galleries.Visit www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au for details.

First published on Friday 11 May, 2018