Salon des Refusés

On display in Adelaide for the first time in its almost 30 year history is the National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery’s Salon des Refusés 2021, the alternate Archibald and Wynne prize exhibition.

The Salon des Refusés was initiated by the S.H. Ervin Gallery in 1992 in response to the large number of works entered into the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ (AGNSW) Archibald Prize which were not selected for display in the official exhibition. The Archibald Prize is one of Australia’s most high profile and respected awards which attracts hundreds of entries each year and the S.H. Ervin Gallery’s ‘alternative’ selection has become a much-anticipated feature of the Sydney scene.

Each year the S.H. Ervin Gallery’s panel is invited to go behind the scenes of the judging process for the annual Archibald Prize for portraiture and Wynne Prize for landscape painting at the AGNSW, to select an exhibition from the many hundreds of works entered in both prizes but not chosen for the official award exhibition.

The resulting Salon des Refusés 2021 is a not to be missed display of over 50 portraits and landscapes that continue the excellent reputation established by the S.H. Ervin Gallery for rivalling the selections in the ‘official’ exhibition. Works are selected for quality, diversity, humour and experimentation.

No booking required.

Main image: Emily Crockford, Trent Zimmerman watching the sun with all the clouds and the lorikeets are singing (Federal Member for North Sydney), acrylic on canvas

Second image: Sally Robinson, Veena Sahajwalla (professor, scientist, engineer and inventor), synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Third image: Daniel Pata, Guy Warren (artist), oil on canvas

Fourth image: Harley Manifold, Gareth (Gareth Colliton, artist), oil on canvas