Sir John Sulman Prize

Criteria

The Sir John Sulman Prize is awarded each year for "the best subject/genre painting and/or murals/mural project executed during the two years preceding the [closing] date", and as of 2008 is valued at $20,000. Media may be acrylic, oil, watercolour or mixed media, and applicants must have been resident in Australia for five years.

The definition of the terms as given by the AGNSW is:

A genre painting is normally a composition representing some aspect or aspects of everyday life, and may feature figurative, still-life, interior or figure-in-landscape themes. A subject painting, in contrast to a genre painting, is idealised or dramatised. Typically, a subject painting takes its theme from history, poetry, mythology or religion. In both cases, however, the style may be figurative, representative, abstract or semi-abstract. A mural is a picture that is affixed directly to a wall or ceiling, as part of an architectural and/or decorative scheme.

List of winners

1940 – Harold Abbott – Vaucluse Interior (painting)

1941 – Douglas Annand – Historical Mural at Bathurst Public School

1942 – Jean Bellette – For Whom the Bell Tolls (painting)

1943 – Elaine Haxton – Mural at le Coq D'Or Restaurant, Sydney

1944 – Jean Bellette – Iphigenia in Tauris (painting)

1945 – Virgil Lo Schiavo – Tribute to Shakespeare, Mural at Sydney University Union

1946 – Sali Herman – Natives carrying wounded soldiers (painting)

1947 – Douglas Annand – Mural, Messrs. Jantzen (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Lidcombe.

1948 – Sali Herman – The Drovers (painting)

1949 – J. Carrington Smith – Bush Pastoral, Mural design for New State Building, Hobart

1950 – Harold Greenhill – Summer Holiday (painting)

1951 – Douglas Annand – Mural, Restaurant, R.M.S. "Oronsay"

1952 – Charles Doutney – Darlinghurst Road (painting)

1953 – Eric Smith – Convicts Berrima 1839, Mural at Old Court House, Berrima

1954 – Wallace Thornton – Sculptor and Model (painting)

1955 – Wesley Penberthy – Oriental Mural (mural design)

1956 – Harold Greenhill – Prawning at Night (genre painting)

1957 – Michael Kmit – The Voice of Silence (subject painting)

1958 – No Award

1959 – Susan Wright – The Circus (genre painting)

1960 – Leonard French – The Burial (subject painting)

1961 – Robin Norling – Sea Movement and Rocks (mural design)

1962 – John Rigby – Children Dancing (genre painting)

1963 – Roy Fluke – Spring Walk (subject painting)

1964 – Ken Reinhard – The Private Public Preview (genre painting)

1965 – Gareth Jones-Roberts – Grape-pickers and Vineyards (subject painting)

1966 – Louis James – It's Hot in Town (genre painting)

1967 – Cec Burns – Exercise in Variegation (subject painting)

1968 – Tim Storrier – Suzy 350 (genre painting)

1969 – Louis James – Spyhole (subject painting)

1970 – Michael Kmit – Philopena (genre painting)

1971 – James Meldrum – Pyramid Shelf (subject painting)

1972 – Peter Powditch – Sun-torso 128 (Bunch) (genre painting)

1973 – Eric Smith – The Painter Transmogrified and Mrs. Smith (subject painting)

1974 – Keith Looby – Still Life and Comfy II

1975 – (joint) Alan Oldfield Transvestite (for Diane Arbus)

1975 – (joint) Geoffrey Proud – Untitled Jane

1976 – Brett Whiteley – Interior with time past

1977 – Salvatore Zofrea- Woman's life, woman's love 3

1978 – Brett Whiteley – Yellow Nude

1979 – Salvatore Zofrea – The water trap (subject painting)

1980 – Brian Dunlop – The old physics building (genre painting)

1981 – William Delafield Cook – A French family (subject painting)

1982 – Salvatore Zofrea – Psalm 24 (genre)

1984 – Tim Storrier – The Burn

1986 – Wendy Sharpe – Black Sun – Morning and Night, Nigel Thomson – The State Institution

1987 – Marcus Beilby – Crutching the Ewes, Bob Marchant – The Grand Parade Sydney Show

1988 – Bob Marchant – Catching rabbits and yabbies at 5 mile dam

1989 – John Olsen – Don Quixote Enters the Inn

1990 – Robert Hollingworth – Going Away/Looking Back

1991/92 – Kevin Connor – Najaf (Iraq) June 1991

1992/93 – John Montefiore – Life Series

1993/94 – Noel McKenna – Boy Dressed as Batman 2 (Diptych)

1995 – Juli Haas – By the Banks of Her Own Lagoon

1996 – Aida Tomescu – Grey-to-Grey

1997 – Kevin Connor – The Man with itchy fingers and other figures Gare du Nord

1998 – Robert Jacks – Changed into a weeping willow

1999 – Anne Wallace – Secret Paintings

2000 – John Peart – Snailsnake

2001 – Euan Macleod – Exquisite Corpse with Fire, Highly commended: Elisabeth Cummings Harbour Light

2002 – Guan Wei – Gazing into deep space no. 9

2003 – Eric Smith – Reflection

2004 – Allan Mitelman – Untitled

2005 – Sandro Nocentini – File:SandroNocentini MySonHasTwoMothers2005.jpg#filelinks

2006 – Jiawei Shen – Peking treaty 1901 Image

2007 – David Disher – Axis of Elvis

2008 – Rodney Pople – Stage fright

2009 – Ivan Durrant – ANZAC Day Match

2010 – Michael Lindeman – Paintings, prints & wall hangings

2011 – Peter Smeeth – The artist’s fate

2012 – Nigel Milsom – Judo House pt 4 (Golden mud) Image

2013 – Victoria Reichelt – After (books)

2014 – Andrew Sullivan – T-rex (tyrant lizard king)

2015 – Jason Phu – I was at yum cha when in rolled the three severed heads of Buddha: fear, malice and death