Tonight, the winners of the 2025 Lester Prize for Portraiture were announced.
Of the 40 finalists, available to view on our blog, six were selected to share in a cash prize pool of over $130,000, making it Australia’s largest national arts prize by total prize money. Included in this year’s judging panel was Christopher Allen, renowned art critic for The Australian.
All 40 finalists, including the winners, will be displayed at WA Museum Boola Bardip until November 16.
Check out the stunning winning portraits below, or head to lesterprize.com.
Winner: Richard Lester Prize for Portraiture
The judges have awarded Jenny Rodgerson the Richard Lester Prize for Portraiture, highlighting the balance of strength and vulnerability in the portrait which only comes through working from life, which the judges note are quite challenging to achieve. Clear, strong, direct and honest, with a classic modern technique that even brings life to the non-descript background.
Christopher Allen: This is a strong, honest and courageous self-portrait in which Jenny Rodgerson confronts her own image in the mirror without posing or flattering herself in any way. It has the truthfulness and penetration that can only be found in working directly from life, and the vulnerability entailed in this kind of raw self-examination is poignantly expressed by the artist’s nakedness.
Winner: Highly Commended Prize
The judges have awarded Sophie Hann with the Highly Commended Prize, remarking on the portrait’s sense of completeness, and real connection and sense of living with the sitter, alongside engagement and respect. The study of a full figure finds balance with the open window on the right – implying there is something out there.
Christopher Allen: A vibrant and lively picture of a talented young artist – herself a portrait painter and the daughter of a celebrated portrait painter – perched on a stool in an attitude that is at once relaxed and full of coiled energy; the composition of the picture is both balanced and dynamic, but the central focus is appropriately on the face, which reflects the intimacy of understanding between artist and sitter.
Winner: Minderoo Foundation Spirit Prize
The Minderoo Foundation have awarded Sylvia Wilson with the Minderoo Foundation Spirit Prize. The portrait is fearsome, compelling, powerful – almost totemic. Both formal and loose, the painting emits a glowing, with a lot of life behind it. Further, the subject calls attention to the force that matriarchs bring to their communities, and the figure of the grandmother as determined and courageous.
Christopher Allen: This painting stood out as an embodiment of quintessential values of the Mindaroo prize, in particular the central role of family, and especially that of the matriarch in sustaining family and community networks in times of crisis; the sitter’s strength of character is expressed in a face that radiates intensity but also emphasised by the powerful column-like composition of the painting.
Winner: Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize
Ignacio Rojas has been awarded the Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize, in which the winner is selected by the artist’s peers.
The portrait shows a refinement of technique, and a life lived. The pathos & wisdom of the young subject has been captured expertly.
Christopher Allen: This is a moving portrait of a young boy painted by his father with exquisite technical refinement and sensitivity. The artist has suffered a debilitating chronic condition for the last few years and we can feel how the love of his son, and the care he puts into painting his portrait, help him to overcome his personal pain and continue to believe in the existence of goodness and beauty.
Winner: Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize
The judges have awarded the Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize to Sue Eva, commenting on the difficulty of painting on a surface bringing both complexity and sensitivity to the portrait. Elegant and intriguing, the judges note that there is a want to feel potential for something else in the future of an emerging artist, and they find that here and look forward to her future work.
Christopher Allen: A quiet but enigmatic picture in which a technically accomplished painting of a silver teapot, perhaps a family heirloom, turns out to contain many other layers: not only a subtle and suggestive self-portrait by the artist – part of a long tradition of self-portraits in convex mirrors – but multiple portraits, truncated and upside-down. An emerging artist is by definition one that has not yet shown all that he or she can do, and we look forward to seeing what comes next for Sue Eva.
Winner: Barton Family Foundation Installer’s Prize
Gene Hart-Smith’s portrait has won the Barton Family Foundation Installer’s Prize, in which the winner is selected by WA Museum’s Installation Team.
