Image above: Mary Tonkin The shimmer of Spring’s mellowing, Kalorama 2022-23 oil on linen 183 x 248 cm. Photographed by Matthew Stanton.
Congratulations to Graeme Drendel, Paul S. Miller, Jennifer Keeler-Milne, Glenn Morgan, Rodney Pople, Jenny Rodgerson, and Mary Tonkin, whose works are included in the 2023 Salon des Refusés at S.H. Ervin Gallery.
The Salon des Refusés is the S.H. Ervin Gallery’s ‘alternative’ selection from works entered into the annual Archibald Prize for portraiture and Wynne Prize for landscape painting and figure sculpture. Initiated in 1992, this exhibition responds to the large number of works entered into the Archibald Prize, held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which were not selected for display in the official exhibition.
Each year, the panel is invited to go behind the scenes of the judging process for the Archibald and Wynne Prizes to select an exhibition from the many hundreds of works entered in both prizes but not chosen for the official award exhibition.
Congratulations to our represented artists who were included in this year’s Salon des Refusés for the following works:
Mary Tonkin – The shimmer of Spring’s mellowing, Kalorama
Graeme Drendel – Portrait of Hertha (Hertha Kluge-Pott, artist)
Paul S. Miller – Cut to the Bone (self-portrait)
Glenn Morgan – The talented photographer Mr Rod McNicol (photographer)
Rodney Pople – FF descending a staircase (Felicity Fenner, curator)
Jenny Rodgerson – Self Portrait – Stumble
Jennifer Keeler-Milne – Golden Beech
The Archibald Prize is one of Australia’s most well-known and respected awards which attracts hundreds of entries each year. The Salon des Refusés has similarly established an excellent reputation rivalling the selections in the ‘official’ exhibition, with works selected for quality, diversity, humour and experimentation, and which examine contemporary art practices, different approaches to portraiture and responses to the landscape.
2023 Salon des Refuses
National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery
Watson Road, Millers Point (The Rocks), Sydney
6 May – 23 July 2023
Of her work The shimmer of Spring’s mellowing, Kalorama, (pictured at top) Mary Tonkin says: “Made in a tree fern gully, this painting began in the first glorious trumpet blast of Spring, when the ferns were plump, vertical and verdant. Then it rained, and rained and rained. The painting continued, between new creeks, and into high Summer as the ferns sagged and shrivelled. It felt as though I was painting with a new awareness of the frailty and brevity of life, the shimmer of its Being.”
Graeme Drendel Portrait of Hertha (Hertha Kluge-Pott, artist) oil on canvas 30 x 26 cm.
“Yesterday I had the pleasure of painting and talking with Hertha Kluge-Pott, brilliant printmaker and mentor to so many students over her long life.” – Graeme Drendel
Paul S. Miller – Cut to the Bone (self-portrait) 2023 dry brush watercolour and pencil on paper 102 x 132 cm.
Paul S. Miller’s unique visual language is utterly uncontrived and unobtrusive, his works are profoundly relatable and inspire a poignant emotional response.
Glenn Morgan The talented photographer Mr Rod McNicol (photographer) acrylic on board 59 x 121 cm.
Glenn Morgan’s sense of humour, integrity and masterful skill as a storyteller are always present in his works. The honesty and openness in his bright, bustling sculptures immediately engage the viewer and draw us in for a closer look.
Jenny Rodgerson Self Portrait – Stumble oil on linen 107 x 168 cm.
Jenny Rodgerson’s figurative paintings are powerful. They embody both a stillness and a potent sense of inhabited presence. In her distinctive self-portraits, the contrast between nuanced light and shade combines with a bold sense of colour to arrive at an arresting resolve that captures the essence, or what Wittgenstein would call, the “whatness” of the subject.
Jennifer Keeler-Milne Golden Beech (Mt Wilson) 2023 oil on linen canvas 76 x 184 cm.
“Golden Beech (Mt Wilson) is a painted response to the overwhelming beauty of the autumn foliage I witnessed last May when I spent a month as artist-in-residence in the Blue Mountains village of Mt Wilson. Beach trees lined many of the streets and captivated my imagination as they literally shone out!” – Jennifer Keeler-Milne
Rodney Pople FF descending a staircase (Felicity Fenner, curator) oil on linen 207 x 141 cm.
Rodney Pople is an interdisciplinary artist that works across various mediums such as painting, photography and sculpture. Pople is a multi-award winning artist who received the 2016 Paddington Art Prize, the 2012 Glover Prize, 2014 Fishers Ghost Prize, 2009 NSW Parliament Art Prize and 2008 Sulman Prize. He was recently a finalist in the Gallipoli Art Prize, the Muswellbrook Art Prize and the Glover Prize in 2020, as well as the 65th Blake Prize and the Mosman Art Prize in 2018, and has been selected for the Archibald and Wynne Prize over 12 times since 2000.
Graeme Drendel Portrait of Lewis Miller 2022 oil on linen 30 x 26 cm
Congratulations to Graeme Drendel who has been announced the winner of the 2022 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize for his portrait of fellow artist and friend, Lewis Miller.
“It is a quietly powerful portrayal of a familiar face, a character study both reflective and demanding attention on account of its emotional strength and credibility. Drendel’s painterly technique is superb, skilled and subtle with faultless lighting and tonality, and it demands close looking. Perhaps surprisingly, it is one of the smaller entries in the 2022 Moran Prize, which overall offers a very strong and varied group of works that represent the quality of the portraiture genre in Australia today” said Gerard Vaughan, 2022 Judge.
Judge Lucy Culliton said the winner was a unanimous decision:
“I was drawn to Graeme Drendel’s painting of Lewis Miller in the first round of judging. The portrait has everything I was looking for. A freshness of paint. A likeness of the subject. The eyes meet the viewer. The palette of colours used is subtle but mixed in good skin colours. Interestingly when we viewed the paintings in real life, although I knew the painting was small, I was surprised at how small the portrait was. I am very happy with our winner. A beautifully painted painting.”
Our thanks go to the entrants who showed a strong commitment to portraiture and the advancement of the arts in Australia. Thank you also to the judges for their expertise, guidance and dedication to the task.
Exhibition
Due to renovations at historic Juniper Hall the 2022 exhibition of finalists will be online on the Moran Arts Foundation website.
View exhibition here.
Australian Galleries is pleased to announce that Graeme Drendel, Terry Matassoni and Lewis Miller have been selected as Finalists in the acquisitive 2022 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize.
The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize encourages both excellence and creativity in contemporary Australian portraiture. Since its establishment in 1988 by passionate supporters of the arts, Doug and Greta Moran AO, the Prize has supported artists striving to achieve success and recognition in portraiture.
The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize judges original artworks from Australian artists, capturing Australians from all walks of life, whether a public figure or someone from the artist’s circle of experience. Works are painted at least partly from life with the sitter known to the artist.
The finalists are in the running for a $150,000 first prize to be announced on November 30.
The 2022 Prize is judged by Gerard Vaughan AM, Australian art historian and museum administrator, Lucy Culliton, one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists and Peter Moran, Moran Arts Foundation. Peter’s parents Doug and Greta Moran AO established the Moran Arts Foundation in 1988 to fulfill their dream of helping Australian artists along the path to excellence.
The 30 finalists will appear in an online exhibition from 30 November. Find out more information about the Doug Moran Portrait Prize here.
Congratulations to Graeme Drendel, Michelle Hiscock, Martin King, Glenn Morgan, Mary Tonkin and Christine Wrest-Smith who are included in the 2022 Salon des Refusés – the alternative Archibald and Wynne Prize Selection.
In 1992, as a response to the overwhelming number of entries to the Archibald and Wynne Prize’s that were not selected for display, S H Ervin Gallery initiated The Salon des Refusés.
Since its launch the alternative display has gained momentum on par with The Archibald Prize and is fast becoming one of the most anticipated art prizes in the Sydney scene.
The Salon des Refusés exhibition at the S.H. Ervin Gallery has established an excellent reputation that rivals the selections in the ‘official’ exhibition, with works selected for quality, diversity, humour and experimentation, and which examine contemporary art practices, different approaches to portraiture and responses to the landscape.
In 2022, 55 works have been selected for the ‘alternative’ exhibition, with 38 from the Archibald Prize & 17 from the Wynne Prize by selectors Kon Gouriotis, editor Artist Profile magazine; Michael Hedger, director, Manly Art Gallery & Museum & Jane Watters, director, S.H. Ervin Gallery.
2022 Salon des Refusés
S H Ervin Gallery
May 14 – July 24
For more information and to see the complete list of selected artists click here.
ARCHIBALD PRIZE SELECTIONS
Graeme Drendel The Gardener- Portrait of Wendy (Wendy Horsburgh) oil on canvas 26 x 31 cm
Michelle Hiscock The Critic in Lockdown (Christopher Allen, art critic) oil on canvas 50 x 40 cm
Glenn Morgan Stuart @ Australian Galleries (Stuart Purves, gallerist) acrylic on board 98 x 74 cm
Christine Wrest-Smith Self Portrait black t-Shirt oil on linen 91 x 71 cm
WYNNE PRIZE SELECTIONS
Martin King the moment between sleeping and waking, double cross in the cosmos watercolour, pastel and oilstick on drafting film and paper 120 x 258 cm
Mary Tonkin Hot kiss, Kalorama oil on linen 183 x 213 cm