The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, having been established in 1936.

It is now held concurrently with the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney.

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."Major art prizes: Sir John Sulman Prize", Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 7 August 2008.

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 Source: 1939 – Gert Sellheim – Mural decoration on wall of Victorian Government Tourist Bureau, Hotel Australia Building, 272 Collins Street, Melbourne 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 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) 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 2016 – Esther Stewart – Flatland dreaming 2017 – Joan Ross – Oh history, you lied to me 2018 – Kaylene Whiskey – Kaylene TV 2020 – Marikit Santiago – The divine 2021 – Georgia Spain – Getting down or falling up 2022 – Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro – Raiko and Shuten-dōji 2023 – Doris Bush Nungarrayi – Mamunya ngalyananyi (Monster coming) 2024 – Naomi Kantjuriny – Minyma mamu tjuta 2025 — Gene A'Hern — Sky painting

Notes and references

External links Art Gallery of New South Wales – Sir John Sulman Prize Lionel Hornibrook Jago – Sulman Prize finalist