Australia has a proliferation of art prizes, the most famous of which is the annual Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Each year, the media and art-world commentators debate the merits of the winning portrait, often according to a shifting and largely undefined set of criteria. Is it a strong likeness? Is it technically accomplished? Is the subject sufficiently prominent?

Alongside the Archibald sits an equally lucrative, though ultimately less controversial award focused not on people but on place: the Hadley's Art Prize, held annually in Hobart, Lutruwita/Tasmania. Hosted within the historic Hadley's Orient Hotel, the prize celebrates excellence in the depiction of the Australian landscape. As an acquisitive award, the winning work joins the hotel's permanent collection, adding to the rich visual history that already fills its corridors, lounges and public spaces.

The setting provides an ideal backdrop for the exhibition. Hadley's is a grand old hotel steeped in stories and closely associated with one of Tasmania's most famous sons, Errol Flynn. Positioned in Hobart on the edge of one of the world's great wilderness regions, it offers a fitting context for a prize dedicated to landscape.

Like portraiture, landscape painting presents a unique challenge. To what extent should an artist faithfully describe a place, and how much should they seek to capture its spirit? The most compelling landscapes often reveal not merely how a place looks, but how it feels. This year, the prize has brought together an outstanding group of 27 finalists selected from more than 500 entries. Each artist approaches the notion of landscape through the lens of their own experience, culture and history. The judging panel, comprising artist Abdul Abdullah, art historian and writer Judith Ryan AM, and Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) curator Sarah Wallace, faced the difficult task of selecting a winner from such a diverse field.

Ultimately, the judges awarded the prize to senior First Nations artist Robert Fielding, who hails from Mimili on the APY Lands in remote South Australia and is of Pakistani, Afghan, Western Arrernte and Yankunytjatjara descent. His winning work, simply titled 'Landscape', depicts a corner of the Western Desert where a stack of disused cars slowly rusts and deteriorates. While many finalists focused on the beauty of place, Fielding chose to present its reality.

As a senior man within his community, Fielding understands his role as a custodian of people, Country and story. Upon receiving the award, he reflected: "I'm still trying to take it all in. This award means so much because it isn't simply recognising one painting. It recognises the people who have guided me, believed in me and walked beside me. Today my name might be on the award, but this is nganampa – ours. It belongs to my family, my community, Mimili Maku Arts, and the Country that continues to teach me every day."
Other significant First Nations artists, including Brenda Croft and Betty Muffler, received honourable mentions. Across the exhibition, the breadth and diversity of responses to landscape are striking.

Both Fielding and veteran artist Imants Tillers incorporate text into their works, an approach not immediately associated with landscape painting. Yet in both cases, the use of language deepens the connection to Country and gives the works particular resonance.

Among the standout pieces for me was Julian Meagher's beautiful seascape, 'First Light Over Cuttagee'. The work captures the fleeting transition between night and dawn with exceptional sensitivity.

Natasha Bieniek once again demonstrated her extraordinary technical skill with 'Trill', a painting remarkable for its detail and precision.

When the exhibition closes, Hadley's Orient Hotel will return to its everyday rhythm. The stories contained within its walls, however, will be joined by another: the acquisition of this year's winning work. Together, the collection forms an enduring record of time, place and the continuing vitality of Australian landscape painting.

The Finalists Exhibition is open at Hadley's Orient Hotel, Hobart, from 1–23 August 2026.