The Lester Prize for Portraiture

The Lester Prize is one of the country’s premier art prizes—an award that places artists and community proudly front-and-centre. Our prize is about the advancement of the artists, not the celebrity of the sitters.

The $140,000 Prize pool consists of:

  • The Richard Lester Prize for Portraiture (selected by a panel of judges; non-acquisitive) | $50,000 cash
  • Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize (selected by artists’ peers; non-acquisitive) | $20,000 cash
  • Baldock Family People’s Choice Prize (selected by the general public) | $15,000 cash
  • Minderoo Foundation Spirit Prize (selected by a panel of judges; non-acquisitive) | $20,000 cash
  • Barton Family Foundation Installers’ Prize (selected by the WA Museum installation team) | $10,000 cash
  • Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize (selected by a panel of judges; non-acquisitive) | $5,000 cash
  • Eyewall Foundation Highly Commended (selected by a panel of judges) | $5,000 cash
  • The Montauk Lighting Co. Highly Commended (selected by a panel of judges) | $5,000 cash

Entries for the 2026 Lester Prize will open on 14 January and close on 17 June.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

The Lester Prize Main Awards – Terms and Conditions

Entry Fee: Early Bird fee $40.00 AUD (20% OFF) until 25 February 2026 thereafter $50.00 AUD (inclusive of GST) per portrait.

ENTER HERE

2025 Winner — $50,000 Richard Lester Prize for Portraiture

Jenny Rodgerson, Self-portrait, 2025. Oil on linen, 58 x 49 cm.

Our Pre-Selection and Judging Process

  • The Pre-Selection Panel members and Judges for both the Adult Awards and Youth Awards change every year. They are a group of independent experts in their respective fields with no commercial association with The Lester Prize.
  • During the Pre-Selection process, the panel is never provided the name or location of the artist (just the artwork image, title, dimensions and medium on screen).
  • Unfortunately, due to the large volume of submissions, we are unable to provide individual feedback to entrants.
  • This is the same process that many art prizes both in Australia and overseas undertake, and one that the Prize has followed since its inception.
  • Our Pre-Selection and Judging processes are fully transparent and something we are very proud of as we work hard to ensure there is no bias, personal, political or financial influence in the selection of our Finalists and Winners.
  • We are unable to enter into any correspondence about the selection of the Finalists and Winners.
  • We stand by and support all our Finalists, and respect the decisions made by our independent Pre-Selection Panellists and Judges.
READ MORE ABOUT OUR MAIN AWARDS PRE-SELECTION PANEL AND JUDGES HERE
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