Andrew Sayers Memorial Lecture: Should Portraiture Be a Competition?
Overview
Australia is a nation that thrives on competition. No field is immune from this desire for excellence, least of all the arts, where most galleries, big or small, draw attention to themselves and their program through competitive annual art prizes. But what happens when creativity and competition meet?
Artistic practice was given the reality show treatment with the release of ABC's Portrait Artist of the Year, a reality series that brought portraiture into living rooms across the country. From a field of 54 contestants, the winner earned the rare opportunity to have their work displayed on the National Portrait Gallery walls.
This year's Annual Lecture will be presented by academic, author, art historian and judge of Portrait Artist of the Year, Associate Professor Robert Wellington. Robert will explore our fascination with art as competition – the merits and the limitations. He will also take us inside the unique world where, for the first time in Australia, reality TV and portraiture collided.
Dates
22 Apr 2026- Cafe
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