Dobell Drawing Prize
National Art SchoolThe $30,000 acquisitive prize is presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation in partnership with the National Art School. It explores the enduring importance of drawing within contemporary art practice. The winning work enters the National Art School’s significant collection, built over the past 120 years.
“The partnership with NAS, as an educational institution, greatly expands the impact of the Prize, incorporating the exhibition into its academic program, developing public programs including a Drawing Symposium and drawing workshops, adding the prize-winning work to its collection, and touring the exhibition to Regional Galleries with outreach programs for regional visual arts teachers and students.”
Michelle Belgiorno-Nettis, Chair, The Dobell Art Foundation,
“The Dobell Drawing Prize is Australia’s leading prize for drawing and an unparalleled celebration of technique, innovation and expanded practice. The National Art School is proud to present this biennial exhibition in partnership with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, as it continues to highlight the enduring relevance and changing role of drawing within contemporary art practice.”
Kristen Sharp, CEO, National Art School
About the Dobell Drawing Prize
2025
DOBELL DRAWING PRIZE #24
The Dobell Drawing Prize is one of Australia’s most prestigious awards dedicated to excellence in contemporary drawing. Established to champion the discipline in all its forms, the Prize celebrates technical skill, innovation, and the ever-expanding language of drawing. Since 2019, the Prize has been presented in collaboration with the National Art School, where it continues to highlight the strength and diversity of contemporary drawing practice across Australia.
At last night’s launch event of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize (10/4/2025), the Trustees of the Dobell Art Foundation were thrilled to host our community of supporters alongside exhibiting artists for a special preview, prior to the VIP and general public event. It was a night of celebration and reflection, culminating in the awarding of the $30,000 acquisitive prize to NAS alumna Rosemary Lee for her powerful work 24-1 (2024). Selected from 965 entries, her drawing was praised by the judging panel — Vernon Ah Kee, Paula Latos-Valier AM, and Dr Yolunda Hickman — for its tonal and compositional sophistication.
The Trustees extend their heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined us for the event and, especially, to the supporters of the Dobell Art Foundation whose generosity makes this Prize — and nights like these — possible. Your continued support is vital to our mission of encouraging and celebrating excellence in drawing. We look forward to building on this legacy and creating even more opportunities for artists to explore, expand, and share their practice with the wider community.
The National Art School’s press release can be found HERE; please see our “In the Media” page for more coverage of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize.
11 April 2025 – 21 June 2025*
Exhibition opening and winner announcement: Thursday 10 April 2025
Exhibition open: Friday 11 April – Saturday 21 June 2025, NAS Gallery
* The National Art School Gallery operates Monday to Saturday 11am to 5pm with the exception of:
- Good Friday,
- Easter Sunday,
- Easter Monday,
- ANZAC Day
- King’s Birthday.
2023
DOBELL DRAWING PRIZE #23
The Dobell Drawing Prize attracts entries from acclaimed artists around the country and explores the enduring importance of drawing within contemporary art practice, in its many different forms and materials.
There are no limitations on medium for the Prize. As well as works on paper, entries that present drawing in alternative formats are invited.
The winner of the 2023 Dobell Drawing Prize is Jane Grealy. The winning work is titled, Maria’s Garden, Scheme 3.
“Drawing is fundamental to the degrees taught at the National Art School and so the Dobell Drawing Prize is an important event for the staff and student community at National Art School.” – Steven Alderton, National Art School Director and CEO
31 March – 10 June 2023
NAS Gallery, Monday to Saturday, 11am–5pm
Dobell Drawing Prize 23 Winner Jane Grealy with National Art School Director and CEO Steven Alderton, in front of the winning work, ‘Maria’s Garden, Scheme C’
2021
DOBELL DRAWING PRIZE #22
The National Art School and the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation invites artists to submit entries in competition for the Dobell Drawing Prize #22. The $30,000 acquisitive prize will be awarded at the opening of the finalists’ exhibition at NAS Gallery on 25 March 2021. To be eligible for selection, artists must read the terms and conditions of entry and complete the steps in the online entry form below. Entries close 5pm, Monday 5 October.
National Art School
2019
DOBELL DRAWING PRIZE #21
The exhibition showcases the finalists’ artworks across a broad range of media that acknowledges the foundational principals of drawing, while also encouraging challenging and expansive approaches to drawing.
National Art School envisions the Prize as a platform for the celebration and examination of current drawing practices. The Prize builds on the energy of both emerging artists who make art through drawing, while also celebrating innovation and technical skill of experienced artists.
Installation view of Dobell Drawing Prize #21. Photo: Peter Morgan
Winner of Dobell Drawing Prize #21 Justine Varga, Photo: Peter Morgan.
Comments from the Judge’s:
“Drawing is a fundamental part of many visual art practices. The winner of the Dobell Drawing Prize #21 uses drawing in the most meaningful and sophisticated way. Her work is a distillation of so many components of our collective lives. Drawing plays a pivotal role in this artist’s exploration of us all. The winning work is a powerful, playful and sophisticated 21st century drawing and a deserved winner.”
Media
The Guardian: Dobell prize 2025: Australia’s leading prize for drawing – in pictures
The $30,000 biennial Dobell drawing prize is known for pushing the boundaries among Australian artists. Rosemary Lee’s 24-1 – an ‘exploration of the urban landscape and gentrification of the Sydney suburbs of Ashfield and Summer Hill’ – was selected winner from 56 finalists and 965 entries.
SMH: ‘Very shocked’: How a Sydney artist’s odd inspiration won her a major prize
April 10 2025 | Dobell Drawing Prize. Construction sites are such inescapable part of Sydney life it’s easy to walk past and barely register the activity beyond the scaffolding and temporary fencing – but not for artist Rosemary Lee. For her, building sites are a...
Dobell Drawing Prize #24. Entries Open
The biennial Dobell Drawing Prize is Australia’s leading prize for drawing, an unparalleled celebration of technique, innovation and expanded drawing practices. The $30,000 acquisitive prize is presented by the National Art School in partnership with the Sir William...
SMH: AI can do many things, but can it replicate these drawings?
John McDonald, 1 June 2023 There is a painting by Philip Guston called The Line (1978), in which a red, veiny hand descends from the clouds, and draws a line with a stick of charcoal held between two fingers. God is drawing a line and daring us to step over it. Full...
The Australian: Hope yet for the lost art of drawing
CHRISTOPHER ALLEN - 17 May 2023 Drawing is, in the broadest sense and if we include everything from cave painting to designs painted or carved on weapons and tools, a universal practice. Like language itself, which may have evolved around the same time, making...
Sydney Morning Herald. 30 March 2023. ‘Nothing like this has happened to me’: Artist’s shock at prize win
By Nick Galvin One morning eight years ago, Jane Grealy was standing in her backyard looking vaguely over the fence into her neighbour’s lush garden, contemplating what the future might hold. She’d just recovered from a debilitating illness and knew she didn’t want to...
Dobell Drawing Prize #23. Exhibition now open.
‘Whether it be a scrawled map, a line in the sand, the scratch of a burnt stick across a cave wall or a digital record of the movement of a stylus, that simple evidence of an intentional touch is fundamental to what drawing is. This compulsion to leave a mark is a...
Dobell Drawing Prize #22. 26 June to 14 August 2022
The Dobell Drawing Prize is an unparalleled celebration of drawing technique and innovation. This National Art School touring exhibition showcases 43 of the 64 finalists from the 2021 Prize and includes Euan Macleod’s winning work, chosen by guest judge and acclaimed...
ArtsHub: New National Drawing Centre Brings Australia in line with Global Trend
Where better than to punch out the parameters of drawing in our times than an art school? The National Art School takes the lead in establishing a centre for experimentation and engagement. By Gina Fairley, Saturday 7 November 2020 This week, the National Art School...
THE ART NEWSPAPER: Sydney bucks trend for marginalisation of drawing at art schools with new National Centre for Drawing
Opening on 4 November, the centre, which is part of the city's National Art School, is modelled on the the Drawing Centre in New York and London’s Drawing Room By Elizabeth Fortescue, 28 October 2020 The National Art School in Sydney’s inner suburb of Darlinghurst...