Paul Newton Portrait of David Campese

This portrait by Paul Newton of rugby union footballer David Campese was a finalist in the Daily Telegraph Sporting Portrait Prize, held in conjunction with the Archibald Prize 2000. A related portrait, titled David Campese II and painted at the same time, is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra.

Newton readily admits to being 'a rugby philistine’. His wife’s family, however, are great rugby followers so when the Sporting Portrait Prize came along they filled him in on the legendary status of Campese – one of the greatest rugby players of his generation. 'Even though it has a sporting theme, it’s a portrait contest so I wanted to represent him as a person and avoid cliches like having him with a football, goalposts or even a football jersey.’

Born in 1961, Newton is a well-known portrait artist and had a portrait of Maggie Tabberer in last year’s Archibald Prize (his third time as an Archibald finalist).