A Finger Painting Wins the 2025 Archibald Prize People’s Choice Award

It’s not every day that a finger painting finds itself exhibited on the walls of one of Australia’s largest galleries. And yet, today, Finger painting of William Barton has won the People’s Choice Award for the 2025 Archibald Prize.

The work by four-time Archibald finalist Loribelle Spirovski is a tribute to Kalkadunga man and international composer William Barton, who is known for his revolutionary yidaki (didgeridoo) works.

Spirovski and Barton met at a concert last October where Spirovski’s spouse, Simon Tedeschi, was playing.

In a statement, Spirovski said she was “overjoyed” at the win. “I am infinitely grateful to William for allowing me to paint him and so humbled by everyone’s responses to the work. It has been a difficult few years and this whole experience is the most beautiful reprieve and reward.”

The process of creating the work was cathartic for Spirovski. “When it came time to work on William’s portrait, I played his composition Birdsong at dusk. As the music began, my hand set the brush aside and I dipped my finger into the soft, pliant paint. I turned the volume up, the music guiding me. Without a brush, painting was almost painless. As the portrait painted itself, I felt alive in a way I hadn’t for a very long time,” she said.

The People’s Choice prize is valued at $5000 and supported by ANZ. The bank also sponsors the Young Archie – the competition for artists between five and 18 – which was awarded earlier this month.

Each of the young artists won $200, family tickets to the Archibald, and an art hamper and a catalogue. The four winners of the Young Archie prizes were six-year-old Logan Zhang for a portrait of his “kind and strong” dad; 11-year-old Isobel Bazar for a piece depicting her 93-year-old great grandmother; Tasha Rogoff, aged 15, for a cheeky multi-media piece featuring her grandpa; and 16-year-old Jasmine Rose Lancaster Merton for her self-portrait.

The work of all finalists will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW until Sunday August 17.

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