Richard Lewer has been awarded the 2026 Archibald prize for his portrait of Pitjantjatjara elder, traditional healer and senior artist Iluwanti Ken. The New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based artist – a six-time Archibald finalist – was announced as the winner of the $100,000 prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on Friday. The judging panel, comprised of the gallery’s trustees, selected the work unanimously from a field of 59 finalists whittled down from 1,034 entries. “The best thing about winning this award is I’ll never be referred to as ‘Richard Lewer, the six- or seven-time finalist of the Archibald, which is good because I was getting kind of sick of it,” the artist joked in his acceptance speech. “But I don’t know if there’s anything different with this painting or the other paintings or whatever. I think this is the right time, the right painting.” At the ceremony, gallery director Maud Page said of the winning work, “What can be said? You see the picture.…