Brisbane artist Imogen Corbett has been awarded the Brisbane Portrait Prize 2024 for her artwork of fellow artist and muse Natalya Hughes, an oil on canvas portrait titled The Artist’s Studio, taking home the highly coveted $50,000 Lord Mayor’s Prize.
Prize judge Bree Pickering, Director National Portrait Gallery, said the portrait was a joyful, approachable and well executed painting and a commentary on ideas of femininity and work. “Close looking reveals the dualities present in this portrait. The room appears intimate and domestic but it’s the artist’s studio – her workplace, so the painting raises questions about where work is done, what is work, and what’s domestic,” Pickering said. “Beautifully composed, it also celebrates ‘prettiness’ in the colour, patterns and texture of the fabrics, but the subject is central and has a commanding expression – a gaze that is both inviting and piercing. Softness and strength are reflected together.
“The work speaks to the relationship between the artist and sitter, of scholar-teacher. It’s a portrait of respect and the generative exchange of ideas between artists, which connects to a long history of portraiture and art making in which artists grow and work together.”

Imogen Corbett, The Artist’s Studio, oil on canvas, 130 x 100cm. Sitter: Natalya Hughes
Other category winners include:
Dennis McCart, Serial Copycat (sitter: Dennis McCart)
Performing Arts and Music Award
Stevie O’Chin, Welcome to Country (sitter: Shannon Ruska)
Packer’s Prize
Bill Platz, Blue Indea (Blue Field, Pickaback) (sitter: Indea-Rose Sekula)
Sylvia Jones Prize for Women Artists
Michelle Vine, The Forgotten (post-viral selfie) (sitter: Michelle Vine)
Metro Arts Experimental Portraiture Prize
James Randall, Interwoven Existence (sitter: James Randall)
Next Gen Prize (for artists 18 and under)
Seth Green, Disconnected (sitter: Seth Green)
Emerging Artist
Hamish Wilson, Afloat (sitter: Kai James)
Emerging Artist Brisbane Portrait Prize
Sarsha Brisbane, The Unseen Wendy Watson (sitter: Wendy Watson)
The Brisbane Portrait Prize showcases the best in contemporary portraiture. The 2024 finalist exhibition is on view at the slq Gallery, State Library Queensland, South Brisbane QLD 4101, from 3 August to 10 November.