Media Releases

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Dr Colin Rubenstein said the Australian Jewish community was “overflowing with pride” over the announcement that  Sydney Jewish artist Julia Gutman had been awarded the prestigious Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW for her work Head in the sky feet on the ground, a portrait of singer Montaigne.

Ms Gutman was the 11th woman to win the prestigious prize in its 102-year history, following in the footsteps of Nora Heysen, who in 1938 became the first woman to win (aged 27, remaining the youngest winner), as well as contemporary artists Del Kathryn Barton (who won twice, in 2008 and 2013) and Yvette Coppersmith (in 2018). There have been three previous Jewish Archibald winners, and all were women – Judy Cassab (1960, 1967); Wendy Sharpe (1996) and the aforementioned Yvette Coppersmith.

“A proud graduate of Moriah College, Julia will go down in Australian and Australian Jewish history. The whole community is extremely pleased for her,” Dr Rubenstein said.

“Her whole family, the Gutman family, have a right to be enormously proud of her. In fact, all of Australian Jewry is overflowing with pride today,” he concluded.

Jeremy Jones, AIJAC’s Director of Community and of International Affairs, added, “I have been familiar with and a huge fan of Julia Gutman’s work for a number of years. She is hard-working, creative, an inspirational communicator and a truly deserving Archibald winner.”