Australia’s most lucrative portraiture prize, The Lester Prize, has revealed the 40 finalists selected for its 2025 Main Awards — marking a record-breaking year with more than 1,000 submissions, the highest since its inception in 2007.
Held in Western Australia, the home-grown award continues to honour its ethos of making art accessible to all, with this year’s list featuring a blend of emerging and established Australian talent. Seventeen returning artists made the cut, including Tom Price-based Jenna Pickering, whose miniature painting Together as one won two prizes in 2024, and Perth-based Indian-origin artist Sid Pattni, who is also a 2025 Archibald Prize finalist.
Sid Pattni’s work explores the intricacies of identity, culture, and belonging within a post-colonial framework. His art contributes to the ongoing discourse around diasporic identity and the role of visual storytelling in communicating lived experience.
Pattni has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including the India Art Fair (2025), Emerging Exploration (2024), Nadiya (2023), and All The Rage (2023), in addition to holding several solo exhibitions. He was awarded the Kennedy Prize in 2023, the Flinders Lane Gallery Exploration Award in 2024, and completed the Khōj Cross-Hatchings Residency in New Delhi in 2024. He also received the Minderoo Artist Fund Grant in 2022. His work is held in private collections across Australia.
Among this year’s standout works is Cost of Living, a self-portrait delicately drawn on an eggshell by Fremantle artist Ross Potter, using watercolour and oil pencil. “In the current cost of living crisis, a once humble staple has become an extravagant canvas,” said Potter. “I even had to consider if I could afford to use this egg.”
South Australian finalist Amy Hamilton used knitting, collage and oil paint for her eight-part piece Open Door, depicting a group of researchers working to support veterans and first responders. “I’m part of this group because my husband is a veteran,” said Hamilton. “I chose knitting because it’s a traditional act of care for soldiers — it ties together history and healing.”
The 2025 finalists include 13 artists from Victoria and 12 from Western Australia. Executive Director Shannon Yujnovich said they are expecting even more visitors this year after more than 26,000 attended the 2024 exhibition at WA Museum Boola Bardip.
“The Lester Prize is proud to showcase its artists and community rather than just those who are painted,” she said.
“We’re thrilled to see entries from all corners of Australia – from new voices to past participants.”
Thanks to recent additions to the prize pool, The Lester Prize now offers over $130,000 across seven awards, including the prestigious Richard Lester Prize for Portraiture, Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize, Minderoo Foundation Spirit Prize, and Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize.
Director Russell Lester said the team remains focused on celebrating and championing Australian creativity. “The breadth and depth of talent we’ve seen this year is incredible. We’re committed to supporting artists and making their work visible and accessible to all Australians,” he said.
The 2025 Lester Prize Main Awards exhibition will run from 19 September to 16 November at the WA Museum Boola Bardip in Perth. The competition is open to all artists aged 18 and over who are Australian residents.
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