THE Art Gallery of New South Wales’ head packer Brett Cuthbertson and his packing room team have awarded the 30th annual Archibald Packing Room Prize to Kathrin Longhurst for her portrait of singer and songwriter Kate Ceberano.

Longhurst’s painting is one of 52 finalist works from 938 entries received for the Archibald Prize, now celebrating its 100th year.

The German-born, Sydney-based artist is mostly self-taught and was previously a finalist in the Archibald Prize 2018 and Sulman Prize 2012.

The Packing Room Prize is a cash prize awarded to the best entry in the Archibald Prize as judged by gallery staff who receive, unpack and hang the entries. The prize money has doubled this year, increasing from $1,500 to $3,000 for the winning artist.

This year, 2,144 entries were received for the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes, making it the second highest number of entries after 2020’s record year. The gallery received the highest ever total number of entries by Aboriginal artists across the three prizes.

The Archibald Prize received 938 entries for its centenary year; the Sulman Prize received 546 entries; and the Wynne Prize received 660 entries. For the first time, there are more finalist works by women than men across the three prizes.

Finalists for the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2021 were also announced today, along with the finalists for the 2021 Young Archie competition.

Of special interest to Canberrans will be former Canberra artist Jude Rae’s picture of Malua Bay during the bushfires. Rae was shortlisted in both the Archibald and the Sulman Prizes.

Finalists in all prizes will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of?NSW?from June 5 to September 26, alongside “Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize”. Details of finalists and bookings here.