Archibald Prize 2026 Finalists Revealed: Portraits of Virginia Trioli, Jan Fran, and More

The Art Gallery of New South Wales has announced the finalists for the 2026 Archibald Prize, Australia's most prestigious portrait award. The Packing Room Prize was awarded to Sean Layh for his portrait of Jacob Collins titled 'The tragicall historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke'. Among the 30 finalists are portraits of notable sitters including Virginia Trioli (by Stieg Persson), Jan Fran (by Vicki Sullivan), Ahmed al-Ahmed (by Julia Dover), Layne Beachley (by Stephanie Galloway Brown), and Sam Mostyn (by James Powditch). Other featured sitters include Anna Plunkett, Gerald Murnane, Richard Leplastrier, Khaled Sabsabi, Chloé Hayden, Susie Porter, Nicky and Simone Zimmermann, Oliver Watts, Iluwanti Ken, Jessica Rowe, Michael and Danny Philippou, Akira Isogawa, Dale Frank, Marta Dusseldorp, Adrian Dodd, Loribelle Spirovski, Sheridan Harbridge, William Yang, Alex Ryvchin, and Daniel Johns. Artists include Técha Noble, Vincent Namatjira, Sindy Sinn, Mitch Cairns, Andrea Wilson, Marikit Santiago, Juan Ford, Dale Rhodes, Caroline Zilinsky, Thom Roberts, Richard Lewer, Meagan Pelham, Drew Bickford, Taryn Cameron-Smith, David Darcy, Amanda Davies, Robert Fielding, Tsering Hannaford, Liam Nunan, Kean Onn See, Michael Zavros, and Loribelle Spirovski. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Sydney.