We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands.

Winner: Archibald Prize 1984

Keith Looby Max Gillies

oil on canvas

244 x 183 cm

The subject of this Archibald Prize-winning portrait by Keith Looby is actor and comedian Max Gillies (born 1941), renowned for his satirical impressions of Australian politicians. At the time, Bob Hawke was the prime minister and the subject of one of Gillies’s more popular impersonations; an image of Hawke can be seen in the audience in the background of the work.