I've been measuring and indexing art prize finalists since 2020. What i've found most interesting is that some prizes have an unexpectedly high number of returning finalists. The table below shows you the number for 2026 prize finalists.
| Prize | Repeat finalists / 2026 total | Repeat rate |
|---|---|---|
| Portia Geach Memorial Award | 39 / 54 | 72.2% |
| Gallipoli Art Prize | 19 / 30 | 63.3% |
| Sir John Sulman Prize | 16 / 27 | 59.3% |
| Archibald Prize | 35 / 60 | 58.3% |
| Omnia Art Prize | 127 / 219 | 58.0% |
| Lethbridge 20,000 Small Scale Art Award | 106 / 190 | 55.8% |
| Brisbane Portrait Prize | 26 / 48 | 54.2% |
| Lethbridge Landscape Prize* | 34 / 65 | 52.3% |
| Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award | 34 / 65 | 52.3% |
| Swell Sculpture Festival† | 52 / 100 | 52.0% |
These figures show how many of this year’s finalists were selected for the same prize before, but incomplete records and a possible duplicate mean the percentages and rankings may change.
The graph below shows that the vast majority of art prize finalists were only in one or two finalist exhibitions.
The graph above shows that the vast majority of artists are only single finalists this year. What it doesn't show, but other posts do reveal, is that the most significant indicator of whether an artist will be selected appears to be whether they were previously selected. For example in the Archibald over 40% of finalists were
- 9x5 Landscape Prize
- Abbotsleigh Grace Cossington Smith Art Award
- ACAR Art Prize
- Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing
- Archibald Prize
- Artbank Prize
- Bayside Painting Prize
- Blake Prize
- Brisbane Portrait Prize
- Calleen Art Award
- Callinan Chambers Art Competition
- City of Kalgoorlie Boulder Art Prize
- City of Rockingham Art Prize
- Clunes Ceramic Award
- Darebin Art Prize
- Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award
- Doyles Art Award
- Fisher's Ghost Art Award
- Fleurieu Biennale Art Prize
- Gallipoli Art Prize
- Geelong Contemporary Art Prize
- Glover Prize
- Gold Award
- Gosford Art Prize
- Goulburn Art Award
- Hadley's Art Prize
- Harden Art Prize
- Heysen Prize for Landscape
- Hornsby Art Prize
- John Leslie Art Prize
- John Villiers Outback Art Prize
- Kedumba Drawing Award
- Koori Mail Indigenous Art Award
- Lane Cove Art Award
- Lethbridge 20,000 Small Scale Art Award
- Lethbridge Landscape Prize
- Little Things Art Prize
- Macquarie Group Emerging Artist Prize
- Mandorla Art Award
- Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture
- Mosman Art Prize
- Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize
- Muswellbrook Art Prize
- National Emerging Art Prize
- National Photographic Portrait Prize
- National Works on Paper Prize
- Noosa Art Prize
- Northern Beaches Environmental Art and Design Prize
- Northern Territory Art Award
- Omnia Art Prize
- Paddington Art Prize
- Paddo Sculpture Prize
- Percival Photographic Portrait Prize
- Percival Portrait Award
- Portia Geach Memorial Award
- Pro Hart Outback Art Prize
- Queen's Wharf Brisbane Art Prize
- Ravenswood Australian Women's Art Prize
- Remagine Art Prize
- Sculpture Bermagui
- Sculpture in the Vineyards, Wollombi
- Sir John Sulman Prize
- Southern Ocean Art Prize (SOAP)
- St Columba's Art Prize
- Stanthorpe Art Prize
- Sunshine Coast National Art Prize
- Swan Hill Print and Drawing Acquisitive Award
- Swell Sculpture Festival
- Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
- The Agency Still Life Prize
- the churchie emerging art prize
- The Kings School Art Prize
- The Lester Prize for Portraiture
- Urunga Small Sculpture Prize
- Vincent Lingiari Art Award 2026
- Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize
- Waverley Art Prize
- William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize
- Winter Art Prize
- Wollumbin Art Award
- Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize
- Wyndham Art Prize
- Wynne Prize
