My 2019 Archibald Prize

Detail of my 2019 Archibald Prize Entry

I will publish the full painting after the 2nd of May when the finalists are told they are in or out.

Here I am after literally five months working on this portrait. My subject is Alan Milne. He was executive manager of 747 at Qantas Airways for many years, ending his time with Qantas during the time it took me to paint this painting.

Alan is now Managing Director of Air Niugini living in Port Moresby. I chose Alan because of a couple of reasons. The first being he is a person of Arts and Letters a requirement of the rules to enter the Archibald Prize. Australia's preeminent Art Prize with $100,000 as first prize so you can imagine every man and his dog who can hold a paint brush wants to enter. And generally that is what does happen.

The other reason is because I want to pay homage to the Queen of the skies the 747 which turned fifty this year 2019. The same year that Qantas will be ceasing its long association with the 747 aircraft. The plane that opened up international air travel to all Australians. The effect on our culture as a result of the ease of travel has been a great driver in the personality of this country. But that all ends this year when Qantas retires its last 747-400 VH-OEJ.

In my painting I feature the first Qantas 747-200B VH-EBA as well as VH-OEJ as a salute to this outstanding aircraft. As an Engineer with Qantas for over 20 years I can tell you each aircraft is worthy of having it's portrait painted for the Archibald because all these amazing jets have their own personality and idiosyncrasies.

Last Friday I drove the nearly 600 kilometres from my house/studio in the Riverina to Sydney to the Art Gallery of New South Wales to deliver my portrait. The scene when I arrived at the gallery was bumper to bumper traffic, people rushing into the gallery loading dock with their prize entries under their arms or in some cases labourers carrying huge renditions of whoever the artist thought was famous enough to paint.

I was asked by a lovely person helping manage the traffic to wait a minute and he will get me a park in the dock carpark the equivalent of flying business class if I could afford to fly that. Very Posh. I manoeuvred my car into the very tight area with trucks, vans and mini hatch back cars all unloading their hopeful works of art.

Once I had released the abundant tie ropes from my painting which took up the the full length of my car I moved into the dock, the famous dock where for generations hundreds of artists carry their art to be judged and hopefully hung.

Most years about 800 hopeful artists walk that metaphoric road, most of them return weeks later to pick up their rejects. In 2012 I did what I call the walk of shame and made a short film about the experience of not being hung in the Archibald Prize. https://youtu.be/ti-MrkX-bxw  In 2019 I hope to be doing the walk of Fame as I go back to the Art Gallery of New South Wales to see my work hanging there.

Wish me luck.