By arts editor HELEN MUSA

Michael Zavros has won the 2026 Archibald Prize People’s Choice Award for his portrait Alex with his tefillin in the sea.

The award, voted on by visitors to the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, attracted a record 45,769 votes this year, the highest in its history since the People’s Choice Award was introduced in 1988.

A seven-time Archibald Prize finalist, Zavros painted the large-scale hyperrealist portrait of Ryvchin, Jewish community leader and Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive, standing in the sea wearing tefillin, the traditional Jewish ritual object worn during prayer.

The work grew from an unusual connection between artist and subject that began years before they met. Zavros says his mother and several friends repeatedly insisted they had seen him on television, only for him to discover they were referring to Ryvchin, whose frequent media appearances had made him a familiar public figure.

Intrigued by their striking physical resemblance, Zavros began following Ryvchin’s public advocacy more closely. Around the same time, a DNA test revealed that, alongside his Greek and Irish heritage, he also had Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.

That discovery, together with his admiration for Ryvchin’s leadership and the fact that both men are fathers of three children, shaped a portrait exploring shared identity as much as physical likeness.

“By a strange connection, a physical likeness, I found common ground with Alex and realised that what unites us as Australians is far more powerful than what divides us,” Zavros said. “It is truly humbling that the work has resonated so strongly with audiences to the exhibition.”

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