‘Quite spooky’ portrait of Play School favourite wins Archibald people’s prize
By Linda Morris
Actor Noni Hazlehurst is approached every day by people who remember her nostalgically from her days as presenter of the ABC’s much-beloved Play School. On Wednesday, a hyperrealistic portrait of Hazlehurst, capturing the actors’ unique relationship with Australians, was named people’s favourite at this year’s Archibald Prize, selected from among 57 finalists on display at the Art Gallery of NSW.
First-time Archibald finalist Jaq Grantford won the $5000 cash prize with the heartwarming portrait showing Hazlehurst framed by a window in a nod to the long-running children’s television series that famously used window props – arched, square and round – to explore themes with its preschool audience.
First-time Archibald Prize finalist Jaq Grantford’s Through the window.
“It’s quite spooky. The thing that actors try to be is present and in the moment, and Jaq captures that,” Hazlehurst said from her home in Queensland.
Grantford, a self-taught artist based in Melbourne, described the win as a dream come true and said she was drawn to paint Hazlehurst because of the actor’s warmth, kindness and optimism.
“She’s so passionate about her beliefs, and she’s not afraid to speak out about what she thinks is right, about her belief that the world is a good place and the people of the world are good people, and that the connections we all have with each other are so important,” Grantford said.
It is one of the few years that women painters have swept the Packing Room, Archibald and People’s Choice Award.
Grantford said she remembered Hazlehurst from her children’s days watching Play School, and they had first teamed up for a portrait in 2017, titled The Storyteller, acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in 2022. For this Archibald entry, she painted Hazlehurst framed by a window pane with lucky charms – a Celtic symbol and an eye – marked in the rain-streaked glass.
She had wanted to create an image of the actor looking safe and protected from the rain, “as that’s how she makes people feel,” she said. “I also liked the idea that it tied into that sense of play and [moments in] childhood when we would blow on the window and draw on it.
“Noni has also gone through some difficult times as well, so I thought she could do with a bit of protection; we all need protection in our life.”
The portrait had taken two months to complete during which time Grantford painted obsessively, day and night, excluding most social contact. “I was very ruthless with my time,” she said. Then recovering from breast cancer treatment, the painter had to take multiple rests. She received an all-clear in her last scan only a month ago.
Julia Gutman won the Archibald Prize with her artwork titled Head in the sky, feet on the ground.Credit: Wolter Peeters
The gallery’s deputy director Maud Page said the public had responded to the portrait of Hazlehurst because the actor was regarded as family. “She taught us how to say bok choy, which is really important in Play School, and then she really talked about important values and one of them was the pervasiveness of negativity. That portrait for me is really a portrait of hope and empathy.”
Hazlehurst, who is a familiar face across television, film and radio and is now writing a book, said she only accepted projects she thought worth watching.
“And that narrows the field considerably,” she said. “I’ve worked very hard over my 50-year career to have integrity and do things that make sense to me, and this sounds lofty, but trying to further the plot of humanity.
“I just want people to stop being vile to each other and to make connections with each other. We live in such divisive times, and so I really try very much to be as honest as I can and to tell stories that I think are worth telling, and the main story that’s worth telling is the need to connect with each other and that’s what the arts are all about, for heaven’s sake.
“The last three years have been very difficult politically and with the pandemic, and there seems to be a lot of reasons for people to feel frightened and distant from other people, and it seems to be getting worse.”
Sydney-based artist Julia Gutman became only the 13th woman to win the Archibald Prize in May with a portrait of singer-songwriter Montaigne.
It is a breakthrough moment for Grantford, who won the 2022 Darling Portrait Prize and was a finalist in the Black Swan Prize, Portia Geach Memorial Award, Shirley Hannon Portrait Prize and the Archibald Salon de Refuses.
The winner of the people’s choice was awarded by a vote of visitors to the Archibald exhibition.
The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes’ exhibition is on show at the Art Gallery of NSW until September 3. Archibald Prize finalists will then go on a tour to Victoria and regional NSW until next August.