On Wednesday, 7 August, Year 7 enjoyed a day in the city, visiting the SH Irvine Gallery and the Art Gallery of New South Wales to see the Archibald Prize entries for 2024.
The SH Irvine Gallery is housed in the National Trust Centre on Observatory Hill in The Rocks, and it opened especially early for our students to look around before the public arrived an hour later at 11:00am. The exhibition is known as The Salon des Refusés, and presents an 'alternative' selection of works entered in the Archibald and Wynne Prizes. During the visit, students engaged in sketching activities and selected a painting they believed deserved to be a finalist in the main exhibition
After lunch in the Domain, the boys finally got to see the 57 entries for this year’s Archibald Prize, including the winner by Laura Jones, and also the Packing Room Prize and People’s Choice winners. The students completed more sketches and took detailed notes on three selected artworks, preparing them for their next Visual Arts assignment: writing a newspaper-style critique of their day, sharing their opinions on their chosen pieces.
The students’ exemplary behavior throughout the day was praised by the staff at the SH Irvine Gallery.
Special thanks go to Mr Leo Carol, Mr Salvatore Tropiano, and Mr Michael Alvir for their help and support in making this such an enjoyable day.
Stewart Hannan, Head of Visual Arts
