We’re beyond proud to announce that four of our represented artists have been named finalists in the 2025 Archibald and Wynne Prizes—a massive achievement for Nanda\Hobbs and an extraordinary moment of recognition of these distinctive voices in contemporary Australian art.
Congratulations to Jonathan Dalton, David Fairbairn, Loribelle Spirovski and James Powditch. This year’s selection reflects incredible depth, power, and range—and we are honoured to be alongside our artists on this journey.
JONATHAN DALTON: Archibald Prize Finalist
"Natasha in the other room"
Oil on linen
228.8 x 132.2 cm
A seven-time Archibald finalist, Jonathan Dalton captures fellow artist—and fellow finalist—Natasha Walsh in a striking, symbolic portrait. Set apart in another room, regal and self-contained, Natasha is both subject and metaphor: a figure on her own journey, her gaze gently intercepted by the viewer.
“Her eloquent art challenges and redefines the way women both view and are viewed in art,” says Dalton. Natasha wears a gown designed by Nicol & Ford, her own 2024 Archibald subjects, the silhouette echoing everything from Madame X to Nosferatu.
DAVID FAIRBAIRN: Archibald Prize Finalist
"Head of B.F. No. 2"
Acrylic gouache, pastel, etching and ink on paper mounted on board
130 x 115 cm
This marks David Fairbairn’s tenth Archibald finalist selection. A master of line and structure, Fairbairn brings his expressive, layered draughtsmanship to this portrait of Professor Bruce French, Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Liverpool Hospital.
French’s lean, striking frame is only part of the story—he and his partner, artist Pamela French, have raised four children completely off the grid. Environmental advocates and champions of Western Sydney’s Cumberland Plain Woodland, their lives are defined as much by conviction as by profession. “I tend to be drawn to people in their later years,” Fairbairn says, “whose lives offer a depth of experience I can translate into an emotive, expressive response.”
LORIBELLE SPIROVSKI: Archibald Prize Finalist
"Finger painting of William Barton"
Oil on canvas
182.6 x 137 cm
Virtuoso composer and yidaki (didgeridoo) master William Barton is the subject of this deeply personal portrait. Painted entirely with Spirovski's fingers as she listened to Barton’s music—Birdsong at Dusk—the work is a meditative act of both connection and recovery.
Spirovski, long managing an injury that made painting painful, rediscovered joy in the tactile immediacy of finger painting. “As the music began, my hand set the brush aside... the music guiding me. As the portrait painted itself, I felt alive in a way I hadn’t for a very long time.”
JAMES POWDITCH: Wynne Prize Finalist
"Big country"
Synthetic polymer paint on plywood ping-pong tabletop
152.2 x 274.6 cm
With his twelfth Wynne Prize selection, James Powditch continues to push the boundaries of landscape, this time by reimagining a ping-pong table as a painted horizon, carved in bold letters with the phrase “Big country.”
It’s a wry and complex work. “Is it a signpost? A tourist trap? A claim of ownership? And if so, by whom—invader or invaded?” Powditch asks. A tiny horse and rider gaze up at the text, dwarfed by its scale. The work interrogates our assumptions about land, meaning, memory, and nationhood—posing vital questions about what it means to live in, love, and lay claim to this ‘big country’ we call home.
