Sydney artist Del Kathryn Barton has been awarded the 2013 Archibald Prize for “Hugo”, a portrait of actor Hugo Weaving painted with the fascinating detail and compelling beauty that is a signature of Barton’s works across several mediums.
“Hugo” is watercolour, gouache and acrylic rendered on canvas and depicts Mr Weaving embracing his feline spirit animal while surrounded by native Australia foliage, another recurring motif in Barton’s work that gives her paintings a mossy, otherworldly quality like Shakespeare’s Fairyland Australiana-style.
This is the second Archibald win for Barton who previously claimed the country’s top honour in portraiture (and heaviest purse with its $75,000 winner’s pool), after taking out the 2008 prize with her painting “You are what is most beautiful about me, a self portrait with Kell and Arella”. Here is “Hugo” in all its glory:
