Winner woos prize opening

By Kath Gannaway
ARCHIBALD winner Ben Quilty delighted the hundreds of guests at the official opening of the 2011 Archibald Prize exhibition at TarraWarra Museum of Art in Healesville on Saturday night.
Recalling his wooing of the 88-year-old Australian artist Margaret Olley he told of her characteristically straight-forward rejection of his suggestion he paint her nude, he rejoiced in being able to shed the mantle of “struggling artist” and declared “I’m 37 and I have been very excited… I won the Archibald.”
Securing the Archibald exhibition is a major coup for TWMA, and with thousands of people expected to visit over the next month, an even bigger coup for the Yarra Valley.
Director Maudie Palmer paid tribute to TWMA founders Mark and Eva Besen saying Mr Besen had secured the event for the museum, the only Victorian venue.
Art Gallery of New South Wales director Edmund Capon spoke of the history of the Archibald Prize, including controversies and court cases over the years.
He said the human being was an extraordinary subject which evoked an extraordinary variety and interpretation.
“Ben Quilty has got that incredible tenacious, and at times slightly argumentative, spirit that is Margaret Olley,” he said.
The Archibald Prize exhibition is at TWMA until Sunday, 31 July. Visit twma.com.au for information and to book on line.