Archibald Prize 2012 portraits

• Angus McDonald Tim Maguire

• Paul Newton Portrait of David Gonski AC

• Nick Stathopoulos Art does belong. Portrait of Fenella Kernebone

Collection connections

• Agnolo Bronzino Cosimo I de’ Medici in armour c1545

• Sir Joshua Reynolds James, 7th Earl of Lauderdale 1759-61

• William Dobell Margaret Olley 1948

Questions and activities

• Assess your response to these portraits. Evaluate how the portraits have been painted. Describe the artists’ style and approach to painting.

• Compare and discuss the compositional arrangement of each of these portraits: cropped, half-length and full-length. Comment on the placement of each figure on the canvas.

• Imagine the process the artists may have taken to capture a physical likeness of their sitters. Consider if these artists may have used photographs of the subjects to assist this process. Do you think it is necessary to use photographs of a subject in order to capture a likeness in a portrait? Discuss in class.