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| Dobell Drawing Prize | |
|---|---|
| Name | Dobell Drawing Prize |
| Awarded for | Excellence in drawing |
| Presenter | Sir William Dobell Art Foundation |
| Country | Australia |
| First awarded | 1993 |
| Reward | monetary prize and exhibition |
Dobell Drawing Prize The Dobell Drawing Prize is an Australian art prize focused on drawing, established to honor the legacy of Sir William Dobell and promote contemporary practice in works on paper. It has served as a platform connecting artists, curators, collectors, critics and institutions across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Hobart through a biennial exhibition and cash award. The prize has intersected with major Australian and international cultural organizations, galleries and festivals.
The prize was founded in 1993 by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation and emerged amid initiatives by the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Melbourne Museum, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of South Australia, Queensland Art Gallery, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and regional bodies. Early years saw involvement from curators associated with Artspace (Sydney), Sotheby's Australia, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Australia and university galleries such as University of Sydney Art Gallery and Monash University Museum of Art. The prize evolved through partnerships with municipalities like Waverley Council and philanthropic patrons linked to estates similar to the trusts that support the Archibald Prize and Sulman Prize. Over time adjudication panels included figures from institutions including Tate Modern, Guggenheim Museum, British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Stedelijk Museum, Centre Pompidou and Whitney Museum of American Art when guest jurors were invited.
Entrants have been individual practitioners working in media traditionally considered drawing — graphite, charcoal, ink, pastel, wash, collage, works on paper — across practices akin to those recognized by the Archibald Prize, Wynne Prize, Mackenzie Prize and international competitions like the Turner Prize and Prix de Rome. Submission guidelines historically required original works completed within specified dates and owned by submitting artists, with categories reflecting standards similar to those of Venice Biennale participants and applicants to residencies at institutions like Gertrude Contemporary, Bundanon Trust, International Studio & Curatorial Program and Cité internationale des arts. Criteria emphasized technical proficiency, conceptual rigour and contribution to the discourse of drawing comparable to criteria used by curators at Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and critics writing for publications such as Artforum, ArtReview, Frieze and Art Monthly Australasia.
Administration has been managed by trustees and boards with links to the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation and collaborations with organisations including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artbank, Australia Council for the Arts, Visual Arts Board, commercial galleries like Jan Murphy Gallery, Tolarno Galleries, and corporate sponsors akin to Commonwealth Bank and Westpac. Philanthropic support mirrored patterns seen in funding for the Biennale of Sydney and sponsorships by foundations such as the Australia Council for the Arts and private patrons comparable to those supporting the Somerset House Studios. Legal and curatorial oversight drew on expertise from university institutions such as Australian National University and University of Melbourne.
Winners and finalists have included artists whose practices intersect with those of Brett Whiteley, Margaret Olley, Sidney Nolan, John Olsen, Arthur Boyd, Geoffrey Proud, Rex Battarbee, Rosalie Gascoigne, Howard Arkley, Gordon Bennett, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Gillian Wearing, Tracey Emin, Yayoi Kusama, Louise Bourgeois, Anish Kapoor, David Hockney, Francis Bacon, Kathryn Beynon, Ben Quilty, Del Kathryn Barton, Garry Shead, Euan Macleod, Shaun Gladwell, Agnes Martin, Elizabeth Peyton, John Baldessari, Cressida Campbell, Jenny Watson, Imants Tillers, Patricia Piccinini, Robert MacPherson, Rex Butler, Mike Parr, Rosalind Nashashibi, Bill Henson, Janet Laurence, Megan Cope, Raqib Shaw, Chloe Early, Vernon Ah Kee, Fiona Hall, Hank Willis Thomas, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Kerry James Marshall, Kia Ora, Holly Wilson, Eugene Carchesio]. Notable shortlisted works have been discussed in contexts similar to exhibitions at Art Basel, Frieze Art Fair, Documenta, Sharjah Biennial and the São Paulo Art Biennial.
The prize culminates in a public exhibition hosted by partner venues such as Art Gallery of New South Wales, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Tweed Regional Gallery and touring arrangements akin to those for the National Gallery of Victoria’s traveling shows. Opening nights and award ceremonies attract museum directors from institutions like the National Gallery of Australia, commissioners from the Australia Council for the Arts, critics from The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Guardian Australia and international correspondents from The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde and curators from Tate Modern and Centre Pompidou. Prize announcements have paralleled ceremony formats of the Turner Prize and Archibald Prize evenings.
The prize influenced discourse in drawing alongside academic programs at University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts, Victorian College of the Arts, Sydney College of the Arts, Griffith University Queensland College of Art and careers of artists who later exhibited at the Biennale of Sydney, Venice Biennale, Documenta and Sculpture by the Sea. Critical reception has appeared in journals including Artforum, ArtReview, Frieze, Art Monthly Australasia and mainstream coverage in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian Australia and The Australian; debates invoked comparisons to controversies surrounding prizes such as the Archibald Prize and scandals like those that affected entries to major awards internationally.
The foundation's activities have spawned residencies, acquisitions and educational programs similar to initiatives run by the Ian Potter Cultural Trust, Australia Council for the Arts residencies, and collection strategies comparable to those of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and National Gallery of Victoria. Legacy projects include touring collections, catalogues produced with partners like Powerhouse Museum and publications distributed through university presses such as Melbourne University Publishing, contributing to scholarship and pedagogy in drawing at institutions like RMIT University and the Australian National University and informing curatorial practice internationally at venues including Tate Britain and Museum of Modern Art.
Category:Australian art awards