The Bald Archy is an Australian art prize, which parodies the prestigious portraiture award, the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

. It usually includes cartoons or humorous works making fun of Australian celebrities.

History

It was founded in 1994 by theatre director and actor Peter Batey, it is judged by Maude, Batey's

cockatoo A cockatoo is any of the 21 species of parrots belonging to the family Cacatuidae, the only family in the superfamily Cacatuoidea. Along with the Psittacoidea ( true parrots) and the Strigopoidea (large New Zealand parrots), they make up t ...

.http://www.BaldArchie.com.au
, Official Web Site The winning 2023 portrait featured Batey flying through a cloud filled sky on the back of Maud the cockatoo. When asked about the prizes' choice of judge, Batey states: “It takes 12 galahs to judge the

Archibald Archibald may refer to: People and characters *Archibald (name), a masculine given name and a surname *Archibald (musician) (1916–1973), American R&B pianist * Archibald, a character from the animated TV show ''Archibald the Koala'' Other uses ...

but only one cockatoo to judge the Bald Archy,” - Peter Batey OAM, 2016 Since 2005, the home of the competition and its accompanying exhibition has been the Museum of the Riverina,

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

. However, in 2008, the prize was announced during the

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

portion of the national tour. Batey died in June 2019, in a car accident near his home at

Coolac, New South Wales Coolac is a village in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia in Gundagai Council. At the , Coolac had a population of 244. History The name ''Coolac'' is derived from the local Aboriginal name for a plant which was abundant in th ...

. Peter Batey bequeathed the past winning portraits and the rights to run the annual prize to the Museum of the Riverina in Wagga Wagga. The Museum relaunched the Prize in February 2023. In 2024, the touring exhibition visited Australian regional galleries including Holbrook,

Deniliquin Deniliquin () is a town in the western Riverina region of south-western New South Wales, Australia, close to the border with Victoria. It is the largest town in the Edward River Council local government area. Deniliquin is located at the inte ...

Corowa Corowa is a town in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is on the bank of the Murray River, the border between New South Wales and Victoria, opposite the Victorian town of Wahgunyah. It is the largest town in the Federation Counci ...

, Temora and finishes in

in New South Wales.

List of winners

Year – Artist – Title (Subject) *1994 – Rocco Fazzari – ''Yuk! Mr Edmund Capon'' (

Edmund Capon Edmund George Capon (11 June 1940 – 13 March 2019) was an art scholar specialising in Chinese art. He was director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1978 to 2011. He was also the chair of soccer club Sydney FC from 2006 to 2007. E ...

) *1995 – Alan McClure – ''Kerry's Goal'' (

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

) *1996 – Rocco Fazzari – ''Warhead'' (

Jeff Kennett Jeffrey Gibb Kennett (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian former politician who served as the 43rd Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999, Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party from 1982 to 1989 and from 1991 to 1999, and the Member for ...

) *1997 – Vincent de Gouw – ''John Howard Washes His Hands Of Pauline Hanson (Apologies To Manet)'' (

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

Pauline Hanson Pauline Lee Hanson (''née'' Seccombe, formerly Zagorski; born 27 May 1954) is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has represented Queensland in the Australian S ...

) *1998 – Peter Wilkinson – ''Shane Warne: What Me Worry?'' (

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batter for Victoria, Hampshire ...

) *1999 – Eric Lobbecke – ''Cyclops – Government's One-eyed Nemesis'' (

Brian Harradine Richard William Brian Harradine (9 January 1935 – 14 April 2014) was an Australian politician who served as an independent member of the Australian Senate, from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving indep ...

) *2000 –

Dave Ross Dave Ross (born April 10, 1952) is a retired talk show host on Seattle's KIRO-FM radio station. He joined KIRO as a news anchor in 1978 and was given his own talk show in 1987. He has sometimes broadcast his show while on assignment in other l ...

– ''Yes Possums! It's Australia's First Lady and Patron Of The Bald Archys'' (

Dame Edna Everage Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, is a character created and portrayed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured ("wisteria hue") hair and cat eye glasses ("face furniture"); her favourite flower, ...

) *2001 – Eric Lobbecke – ''The Skase Chaser'' (

Amanda Vanstone Amanda Eloise Vanstone (née O'Brien; born 7 December 1952) is an Australian former politician and a former Ambassador to Italy. She was a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the ...

) *2002 – Xavier Ghazi – ''Mutant'' (

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle swimming, freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the medley swimming, individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the se ...

) *2003 – Louise Klein – ''What Odds?'' (

Robbie Robbie and Robby, also Robbi and Roby, are given names. They are usually encountered as a nickname or a shortened form of Robert, Rob or Robin. The name experienced a significant rise in popularity in Northern Ireland in 2003. Robbie is also a s ...

and

Gai Waterhouse Gabriel Marie "Gai" Waterhouse (née Smith; born 2 September 1954) is an Australian horse trainer and businesswoman. The daughter of Tommy J. Smith, a leading trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses, Waterhouse was born and raised in Sydney. After ...

) *2004 – Xavier Ghazi – ''I'll Eat You In The End'' (

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

) *2005 – Tony Sowersby – ''The Cardinal With His Abbott'' (Cardinal

George Pell George Pell (8 June 1941 – 10 January 2023) was an Australian cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 2002, he faced recurring accusations of sexual abuse, although his subsequent sexual abuse conviction was quashed on appeal to the High Cour ...

and

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

) *2006 –

Matt Adams Matthew James Adams (born August 31, 1988) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Nicknamed "Big City" for his imposing size and ability to regularly hit long home runs, the St. Louis Cardinals selected Adams in the 23rd rou ...

– ''Brown-Stain Janus-Faced'' (

John Olsen John Wayne Olsen AO (born 7 June 1945) is an Australian politician, diplomat and football commissioner. He was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001. He is now President of the Federal Liberal Party, Chairma ...

) *2007 – Xavier Ghazi – ''There's Nothing Like Barry'' (

Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries (17 February 1934 – 22 April 2023) was an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He was best known for writing and playing his stage and television characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He appeare ...

) *2008 – James Brennan – ''The Official Portrait of the Danish Royal Family'' (

Crown Prince Frederik Frederik X (Frederik André Henrik Christian, ; born 26 May 1968) is King of Denmark. He acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2024. Frederik is the eldest son of Margrethe II and Prince Henrik. He was born during the ...

, Crown Princess Mary, Prince Christian and Princess Isabella of Denmark) *2009 – ames Brennan– ''Old Owl Eyes is Back'' (

Bart Cummings James Bartholomew Cummings (14 November 1927 – 30 August 2015), also known by his initials J. B. Cummings, was one of the most successful Australian racehorse trainers. He was known as the Cups King, referring to the Melbourne Cup, as he wo ...

) *2010 – Judy Nadin – ''Patti's Cake'' (

Bert Newton Albert Watson Newton (23 July 1938 – 30 October 2021) was an Australian media personality. He was a Logie Hall of Fame inductee, quadruple Gold Logie–winning entertainer, and radio, theatre and television personality and compère. Ne ...

) *2011 – Xavier Ghazi – ''Bad Ass-Ange'' (

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...

) *2012 – Allie Campbell – ''A Fitting Frame 1'' and ''2'' (

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

and

) *2013 – Warren Lane – ''The Banquet of Gina and Ginia'' (

Gina Rinehart Georgina Hope Rinehart (, born 9 February 1954) is an Australian heiress, billionaire mining magnate and businesswoman. She is the executive chairwoman of Hancock Prospecting, a privately owned mineral exploration and extraction company foun ...

and her daughter Ginia) *2014 – Judy Nadin – ''Wrecking Balls Ashes to Ashes'' (

Mitchell Johnson Mitchell Guy Johnson (born 2 November 1981) is a former Australian cricketer, who played all forms of the game for his national side. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He represented Australia in international cricket from ...

) *2015 – Xavier Ghazi – Archibald and the Bald Archy, a Photo Bomb (

J. F. Archibald Jules François Archibald (born John Feltham Archibald, 14 January 1856 – 10 September 1919) was an Australian journalist and publisher, best known for co-founding and editing '' The Bulletin'', Australia's most popular magazine in the late 19 ...

) *2016 – Pat Hudson – ''Nothing to Say'' (Cardinal George Pell) *2017 – James Brennan - ''Pocket Rocket'' (

David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to: Sports * Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor * David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier * David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer Othe ...

) *2018 – James Brennan - ''Ahn Can Do'' (

Anh Do Anh Do (born 2 June 1977) is a Vietnamese Australian, Vietnamese-born Australian author, actor, comedian, and painter. He has appeared on Australian TV shows such as ''Thank God You're Here'' and ''Good News Week'', and was runner-up on ''Danci ...

) *2019 – Simon Schneider - ''Geoffrey'' (

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. Known for often playing eccentric roles on both stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Geoffrey Rush, numerous accolades, including an Academy Aw ...

) *2020-2022 awards were not run *2023 – Marty Steel - ''Never a Dull Moment ( Peter Batey)''

References

{{Australianartawards

External links

Official Web SiteThe Bald Archy Prize at the Museum of the Riverina
Awards established in 1994 Australian visual arts awards Ironic and humorous awards Archibald Prize 1994 establishments in Australia