Artist Angus McDonald has won the Archibald People’s Choice award for the second time, claiming the prize for his portrait of Aboriginal writer and academic Marcia Langton.

The professor and rights activist is portrayed in the work looking upwards with rose-tinted clouds blanketing the sky behind her.

McDonald, a social justice advocate, wanted to paint Langton in honour of her “lifetime fighting and struggling for First Nations people”.

“A towering figure in our social history … she has done that with the courage of her convictions, following her own path,” he said following the prize announcement on Thursday.

“She’s one of our greatest figures.”

 

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By placing Langton just right of the centre of the canvas, McDonald wanted to convey a sense of her stepping away and handing the baton over to a new generation of activists.

The seven-time Archibald finalist also won the People’s Choice award in 2020 for his portrait of Kurdish-Iranian writer and former Manus Island detainee Behrouz Boochani.

McDonald is also the subject of another portrait among the current finalists in a work by his close friend Mostafa Azimitabar.

While the premier Archibald prize and its sister award the Sulman are judged by trustees at the Art Gallery of NSW, the People’s Choice award is chosen by patrons who visit the exhibition in its opening two months.

The 2024 public prize was the result of votes cast by 21,663 visitors.

The main portrait award went to artist Laura Jones, who took the $100,000 purse with her portrait of acclaimed author Tim Winton.

Yolŋu elder Djakaŋu Yunupiŋu won the $50,000 Wynne Prize for her painting Nyalala gurmilili.

The $40,000 Sulman Prize, which goes to the best subject or genre painting, went to Naomi Kantjuriny for her work Minyma mamu tjuta.

The Archibald finalists’ paintings will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW until September before touring various regional galleries.

– AAP