A Historic Archibald: Vincent Namatjira's Breakthrough

Australia's Archibald Prize, awarded since 1921, is the country's most talked-about art award. In 2020 it made history when Vincent Namatjira became the first Indigenous artist ever to win it.

His winning entry, a double portrait of himself with the champion Australian Rules footballer Adam Goodes — both descendants of strong Aboriginal lineages — was warm, wry and quietly political.

Great-grandson of the celebrated watercolourist Albert Namatjira, Vincent brought a sharp, humorous eye to Australian identity, power and history — and broke a barrier that had stood for nearly a century.

Image: “Sydney (AU), Art Gallery of New South Wales -- 2019 -- 3103” — Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.