Captain Sir William Alexander Dargie was a renowned Australian painter, known especially for his portrait paintings. He won the Archibald Prize, Australia's premier award for portrait artists on eight separate occasions; a record held since 1952.
Dargie with Albert Namatjira, late 1940s
Portrait of Lt-General the Hon. Edmund Herring for which Dargie won the 1945 Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919. It is administered by the trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and awarded for "the best portrait, preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters, Science or Politics, painted by an artist resident in Australia during the twelve months preceding the date fixed by the trustees for sending in the pictures". The Archibald Prize has been awarded annually since 1921 and since July 2015 the prize has been AU$100,000.
Desbrowe Annear by W B McInnes, the first Archibald Prize winner (1921)
Lt-General The Hon Edmund Francis Herring, DSO, MC, ED by Sir William Dargie (1945)