This is a list of finalists for the 2021 Archibald Prize for portraiture (listed is Artist – Title ).[ 1] [ 2] 52 artworks were selected from the 938 entries received. 2021 was the first year with gender parity among the artists.[ 3] As the images are copyrighted, an external link to an image has been listed where available.
Benjamin Aitken – Gareth Sansom
Julianne Ross Allcorn – I listen and they tell me the bush news
Victoria Atkinson – Trent mango tree, all the colours of the rainbow, Trent
Peter Berner – Stop pouting, you've had your turn
Kate Beynon – Collaborative spirits
Natasha Bieniek – Rachel Griffiths
Karen Black – Professor Chandini Raina Macintyre
Keith Burt – Sarah Holland-Batt – poet
Ann Cape – The odd little bird (a portrait of Sam, Cam and Penguin Bloom)
Tom Carment – Mara reading, in the kitchen at Mount Lofty
Julia Ciccarone – The sea within (Winner: People's Choice Award 2021) [ 4]
Jun Chen – Artist – Joe Furlonger
Matthew Clarke – Del Kathryn Barton is a good listener
Lucy Culliton – Self (bogong moth jumper)
Dagmar Cyrulla – Wendy
Jonathan Dalton – Ramesh and the artist Ramesh
Sinead Davies – The charity worker
Graeme Drendel – Portrait of Jill
Jaye Early – Masato_Takasaka
Jeremy Eden – Firass
Hong Fu – Professor Mabel Lee
Tsering Hannaford – Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC
Pat Hoffie – Visaya in a c-colour
Matthew Kentmann – Les
Xeni Kusumitra – adrift
Kim Leutwyler – Kim
Richard Lewer – Liz Laverty
Dapeng Liu – A mind–body dualism portrait of Joanna Capon
Kathrin Longhurst – Kate (Winner: Packing Room Prize 2021) [ 5]
Fiona Lowry – Matthys
Mathew Lynn – Apprentice – self-portrait with Papa K (aka I do see colour)
Shannon McCulloch – Ben
William Mackinnon – Dark dad / extremis
Euan Macleod – Blak Douglas
Julian Meagher – Fozzy
James Morrison – Portrait of Timothy Vernon Moore
Sally M. Nangala Mulda – Two town camp stories
Kirsty Neilson – Making noise
Thea Anamara Perkins – Rachel
James Powditch – Kerry O'Brien – all along the watch tower
Jude Rae – Inside out
Thom Roberts – A portriff of Adam (Shane Simpson AM)
Joan Ross – Joan as a colonial woman looking at the future
Sally Ross – Autoportrait
Marikit Santiago – Filipiniana (self-portrait in collaboration with Maella Santiago Pearl)
Kirthana Selvaraj – The green suit, a self-portrait
Michael Snape – Stuart Purves
Nick Stathopoulos – The white shirt – portrait of Tané Andrews
Oliver Watts – Dorian Gray (Eryn Jean Norvill )
Peter Wegner – Portrait of Guy Warren at 100 (Winner: Archibald Prize 2021) [ 6]
Mirra Whale – Repose
Eunice Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu – Me and my sisters