Image: Amanda Penrose Hart’s The Sphinx, Perpetual Peace, winner of the 2017 Gallipoli Art Prize.
Conceived in 2004, The Gallipoli Art Prize encourages artists to interpret the values of the Anzacs and is awarded to the artist who best depicts the spirit of the Gallipoli Campaign, as expressed in the creed of the Gallipoli Memorial Club:
We believe that within the community there exists an obligation for all to preserve the special qualities of loyalty, respect, love of country, courage and comradeship which were personified by the heroes of the Gallipoli Campaign and bequeathed to all humanity as a foundation for perpetual peace and universal freedom.
Artists are invited to submit one piece of original work produced in either oil, acrylic, watercolour or mixed media by Thursday 15 March.
‘As far as this sort of art prize in Australia goes, it’s quite unique because it’s based around a set of principles rather than a portrait or a landscape,’ said John Robertson, Chairman of the Gallipoli Art Prize Selection Committee.
‘We accept everything that would fit in with that love of country and comradeship,’ he added.
Robertson said 2016 prize winner Jiawei Shen’s portrait Yeah, Mate! was an example of such work. Adapted from a photograph, the painting depicts a soldier carrying his wounded friend over his shoulders at the top of the Gallipoli peninsula.
The work of last year’s winner, Amanda Penrose Hart, also struck a chord with the judges. Her painting The Sphinx, Perpetual Peace, depicted a dramatic feature of the harsh landscape that soldiers faced as they landed in Gallipoli by boat on the morning of April 25th 1915.
‘It depicts Anzac Cove from the water and truly evokes the emotions I felt when I was there,’ Robertson said of the painting.
‘It’s painted from sketches Amanda actually took at Gallipoli, from the water – so you’re looking at The Sphinx as the fellows arriving at Gallipoli would have seen it.’
Learn more about the Gallipoli Art Prize
The judging panel for this year’s Gallipoli Art Prize includes art critic John MacDonald from the Sydney Morning Herald; Jane Watters, Gallery Director, S.H. Ervin Gallery; Barry Pearce, former curator of the Art Gallery NSW, and Robertson himself.
Judges will be looking for artistic excellence as well as works which respond to the Gallipoli Memorial Club’s creed, Robertson said.
‘We’re open to whichever medium the artists use as long as they portray what we’re looking for and have painted the work within the last year. No one has entered a sculpture yet, but we’ve had works ranging from oils right through to mixed media; we’ve even had modern computer-generated artworks over the last couple of years.’
Artists wishing to submit an entry to the Gallipoli Art Prize must deliver the work to The Gallipoli Art Prize Organizing Committee between 10am and 4pm between Sunday 11 and Wednesday 14 March 2018. No early submissions of work can be accepted this year.
Visit http://gallipoli.com.au/art-prize/ for entry conditions and details.
