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For the past century the Archibald Prize has put its name into the history books as one of Australia's most prestigious art prizes.
First awarded in 1921, the Archibald Prize was established following a bequest from former Art Gallery of NSW trustee and founder of The Bulletin magazine, JF Archibald, whose aim was to foster portraiture, support artists and perpetuate the memory of great Australians.
The open competition, which is judged by the trustees of the gallery, has been awarded annually (with two exceptions: 1964 and 1980) to the best portrait, 'preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in arts, letters, science or politics'.
Art Gallery of NSW exhibition curator Natalie Wilson said the exhibition is a celebration of 100 years.
"This is the fourth venue in our tour of Australia, at QVMAG, and we are so excited that Tasmania gets to have a look at the Archibald Prize for the first time," she said.
"Considering that one of the first Archibald artists to enter the prize was a Tasmanian, and artist by the name of Florence Rodway, there are many Tasmanian artists and subjects who have been part of the prize over the last 100 years.
"It's so exciting that Tasmanian's get to celebrate those Tasmanian artists and special subjects as they come and see the exhibition.
"The exhibition will finish up at The National Portrait Gallery in January 2024."
Ms Wilson said choosing the portraits to display was a painstaking decision.
"Over the last century there have been more than 6000 portraits, whittling down those was hard. First I had to find as many of them as I could," she said.
"We found around 2000 works and from that 2000 it became a process of finding which were available, some works of course haven't stood the test of time with deterioration.
"Finding the 100 works that were going to tell a wonderful story about the prize itself, but also the social history of Australia was a large task. It's also not just about the winner, about a quarter of the 98 works are winners, but we also have finalists."
Featuring artworks depicting famous Aussies such as John Howard and Molly Meldrum, the artworks challenge the idea of portrait paintings.
"From the very beginning people have always seen portraits painted in a very academic, realist manner," she said.
"But as time progressed artists took on board all of those different ways of making art. They looked at all different periods, such as surrealist, hyper-real portraits.
"More recently we have seen Indigenous artists which are more about the connection to land and country and the way they see themselves in their landscapes."
Another challenge of the exhibition was transporting the priceless works of art safely across the country.
"The logistics in moving an exhibition of this scale around the country are pretty enormous," Ms Wilson said.
"We have to get the works all crated up and put in transport that is taken to each venue.
"We have to contact the artists that are still living and let them know, also families of prior artists and subjects and making sure that everyone is aware of this important exhibition. It's quite a phenomenal task."
Art Gallery of NSW director Dr Michael Brand said Archie 100 and the Archibald Prize online archive are extraordinary records of our society and culture.
"Since its inception, the Archibald Prize has attracted entries from both prominent and emerging artists in Australia and New Zealand, and celebrated figures from all walks of life, from famous faces to local heroes."
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