How to win the Archibald prize: what 100 years of data tells us

The Archibald can also be called a social history prize, says historian Joanna Mendelssohn.

In the beginning artists could submit an unlimited number of paintings every year : this meant artists like WB McInnes, who won the Archibald seven times, had 66 paintings hung over 17 years.

But the grand prize goes to Joseph Wolinski, who had more than 100 paintings entered and hung between 1921 and 1951. He never won.

With nine pieces, Vincent Sacco had the most artworks hung in one year. This was in 1945, the last year artists were able to enter so many works. He also never won.

There are no images at all for 4,000 works, and there are still some question marks hovering over the 2,000 remaining.

Just over 60 people have won an Archibald prize.

Most multiple-winners were active early-on, before artists were limited to two entries a year. This includes William Dargie, who won a record eight Archibald prizes, and inaugural winner McInnes, who won seven times.

The rules were changed again in the early 2000s to allow only one work a year.

Earlier on, many of the winning portraits were of politicians and government officials. Mendelssohn says this is likely because most were officially commissioned and only later submitted to the competition.

But the most common subject of winning portraits are art world figures: other artists and art dealers, as well as self portraits.

Twenty-four winners have been portraits of other artists, while 13 were self portraits.

Many recent paintings have continued this trend. When Cherry Hood won the 2002 prize with a watercolour painting of pianist Simon Tedeschi, it was almost entirely light skin tones over a white background.

Roughly 70% of portraits hung in the Archibald have been submitted by male artists. In the last couple of decades, the proportion of female artists has been increasing. In 2021, the Archibald hit gender parity among finalists for the first time.

It took until 1938 for Nora Heysen to become the first woman to win the prize. At 28 years old, she also became the youngest winner of the prize.