Updated July 20, 2017 16:48:22

Photo: In this self-portrait, Madeleine Winch surrounded herself with the tools of her trade and entered it in the 2017 Archibald Prize. (Artist: Madeleine Winch)

It's one of the great talking points in Australian Art — what do you think of the Archibald Prize winner? Which painting would you have chosen?

Next week the winner will be chosen from 43 paintings now hanging on the walls of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), picked from more than 800 entrants as finalists in the prestigious portraiture prize.

"This year's finalists are, as ever, a very diverse field," the gallery's curator, Anne Ryan, said.

"That's the thing we find with the Archibald Prize, even though it's a show about one idea, we actually find that the way the artists approach it, the subject's they choose and the way that they paint them, is incredibly diverse."

Infographic: ABC TV presenter Anh Do chose actor Jack Charles as the subject of his entry.

Artists are encouraged to paint people distinguished in their field, whether it's art, science, politics or sports.

Among the subjects chosen by this year's finalists are artist John Olsen, stage director John Bell, Indigenous actor Jack Charles, and of course TV personality Lisa Wilkinson.

Peter Smeeth today won the $1,500 Packing Room Prize for his portrait of Ms Wilkinson, judged by the staff of the AGNSW.

Infographic: President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Professor Gillian Triggs, was the subject of Yvette Coppersmith's entry.

Ms Ryan said the standard of work this year was high and choosing the finalists was painstaking work.

"In the past, there have been some years that weren't so great. This year's been pretty good, it's been consistent with the last few years … we're very happy to have these pictures on our walls," she said.

"Every single work is assessed in the flesh. So the judges … see every single work in one afternoon and make their decision from over 800 entrees and get down to what we have today which is just over 40."

Infographic: Artist Marcus Wills painted award-winning director, writer, actor and producer Thomas M Wright in his entry.

The winner is announced next week.

"Everyone does have an opinion about the Archibald Prize and we encourage our visitors to form their opinion about who they thought should've won," Ms Ryan said.

"That's what art should be about, it shouldn't just be a passive process, it should be about engaging with what you're looking at and coming to your own conclusions."

Let the debate begin.

Infographic: Jon Campbell's portrait, titled "Two sunny boys", is of Peter and Jeremy Oxley who played in the Sunnyboys, one of the artist's favourite bands.

Topics: arts-and-entertainment, contemporary-art, visual-art, painting, sydney-2000

First posted July 20, 2017 16:34:42