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March 25, 2006
The winner of the Archibald Portrait Prize2006 is an innovative one: a medieval looking painting of a large head like a landscape, comprising hundreds of tiny figures:
Marcus Wills, The Paul Juraszek monolith (after Marcus Gheeraerts), 2006
Marcus Willis is a little-known Melbourne artist and he says that a reference point for the work was a 16th century Flemish etching by Marcus Gheeraerts---preumably Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder (c.1516-bf.1604). His son, Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (1562-1635), was an English court portrait painter, and it is Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder who was the engraver.
Alas I cannot find any of Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder's images on the net, let alone the etchings.
The The Paul Juraszek monolith work is innovative because the aim of the Archibald fostering portraiture supporting artists and perpetuating the memory of great Australians. So each year resident Australian artists are invited to submit portraits painted from life of men or women “distinguished in Arts, Letters, Science or Politics. It is Australia's oldest and most prestigious art prize, and it attracts national attention and fosters ongoing attention and debate within the community.
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