SYDNEY.- Lucy Culliton has won the Sir John Sulman Prize 2026 and $40,000 for her work Toolah, artist model, an intricately detailed painting of Toolah, one of her beloved rescue greyhounds. This is Culliton’s seventh time as a Sulman Prize finalist, with her 2026 winning work selected from 26 finalists.

Hearing of the news, Culliton said she was overwhelmed and had not expected to win.

‘This painting of Toolah means so much to me. Besides painting, I rescue animals in need. Toolah is one of seven greyhounds who live with me that come from the greyhound racing industry. This is my quiet protest against greyhound racing,’ said Culliton.

Born in Sydney, Culliton is a contemporary painter known for her vibrant and observant depictions of landscapes, still life and animals. She trained at the National Art School and has exhibited professionally since the late 1990s. She is widely recognised for her distinctive realist style grounded in everyday rural life. Living and working in Bibbenluke, a small village in the Snowy Monaro region of southern NSW, Culliton’s subject matter is strongly informed by her surroundings, gardens and menagerie of animals.

Culliton’s work has regularly been selected for major Australian art prizes, including the Archibald and Sulman Prizes, where she has been a finalist seven and nine times respectively, and her work is held in major public collections around Australia.

The Sir John Sulman Prize is awarded to the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project by an Australian artist and is judged by a guest artist each year. This year’s Sulman Prize judge is Sydney artist Del Kathryn Barton, who selected Culliton’s winning work from 717 entries in 2026.

‘This is a painting by Lucy at the peak of her powers. Pictorially ambitious and technically consummate, it generously offers audiences a tender moment of gorgeousness from Lucy’s life. Just wow!’ said Barton.

All finalists in Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2026 will be exhibited at the Art Gallery from Saturday 9 May to Sunday 16 August 2026.

Following the exhibition at the Art Gallery, the Archibald Prize 2026 finalist works will tour to six venues across New South Wales and Victoria, offering audiences beyond Sydney the opportunity to experience this nationally celebrated portrait prize.