Controversy, Scandals and Debate

Ever since the Archibald Prize awarded its first prize it has been highly sought by artists, for the money it possessed, the exposure it gave and the chance to have your work exhibited in a major gallery. The first decade the Archibald saw a lot of academic and tonal realism. In response to this artists began to modify their styles to suit that of the Archibald Prize winning trend.
In 1946 for the first time the Trustees insisted on a pre-selection, where more than half the entries were eliminated.
The first sign of disapproval was when William Dargie won his seventh Archibald with Mr Essignton Lewis, CH in 1952. Art students feed up the predictability of his work decided to demonstrate their feelings.
In the first two decades a few people broke away from the crowd of the sitter. an example of this is Henry Hanks Self portrait in which he criticised as not being distinguished as he portrayed himself in representation of an unemployed painter, tattily dressed.
It was William Dobell's winning portrait of Joshia Smith that really rocked the boat, in 1943. This portrait was the one that finally broke the idea established with the Archibald. The reaction to him winning was so extreme that a fellow competitor took legal action against Dobell and the Trustees, with the case that Joshua Smith was 'a distorted and caricatured form' meaning it wasn't a portrait. Though not everyone agreed, Dobell's supporters described that the portrait was a 'work of art and a likeliness or resemblance of the sitter.' Dobell responded to the critics with a statement about how he was trying to create something, instead of copying something.
Along with the case came a lot of press coverage and public comment. In the end the case turned into a lively debate about Modernism. the verdict of Justice Roper upheld Dobell's award stating that 'although characterised by some startling exaggeration and distortion.........nevertheless bore a strong degree of likeness to the subject and undoubtedly was a pictorial representation of him.'
In the 1960's Archibald artists were dealing with the demands of modernism, particularly abstract art. The artists had no concern with naturalism or realism.
 A debate was always brewing with the Archibald Prize. another controversy appeared when Brett Whiteley won with his painting Self portrait in the studio, in 1976. The portrait marked a turning point for the the award. The self portrait part of the painting is just the artists face reflected in a hand mirror, with the blue ocean that is his studio surrounding it.
If a portrait was proven to be drawn from a photograph the portrait is disqualified this happened to John Bloomfield with his portrait Tim Burstall, in 1975, though this wasn't the only time
The Archibald has had its fair share of controversies, scandals and debates, but there are still many more to come. The prize is intertwined with the these problems, its just the way it works.