Proposal for a Landscaped Cosmos

The Wynne prize is considered the most important prize for portrait painting in Australia. Previous winners have included many Australian artists of international standing including Brett Whitely, Fred Williams, Hans Heysen and William Dobell. The prize is awarded by the trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, a panel which includes two established artists, John Beard and Lindy Lee. The awarding of the prize was reported widely including the Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/giant-slayer-proves-big-things-come-in-small-packages-20100326-r1e6.html) and the Age (http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/tim-minchin-portrait-wins-archibald-prize-20100326-r1e9.html) This painting was intended to address ideas of scale and intimacy in landscape painting . The painting was the smallest ever to have won the Wynneprize. The painting is finished with a coat of reflective epoxy resin which both invites the viewer to look closer and imposes a barrier between the viewer and the layer of paint which holds the landscape. This is the first time a painting using a technique like this has won the archibald prize. The painting was also a unique response to the question of what may constitute an Australian landscape, being based on a 17th century Dutch Landscape by Pynacker altered to present it as a proposal for a future landscaping project.