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When the Salon des Failures was first held in 1992, some of the selected artists were reportedly annoyed that their works were included in the Archibald Prize “Failures” exhibition.
Thirty-two years on, the inclusion of work in the annual exhibition—making the works selected from the Archibald and Wynne Prizes “remaining works”—now carries a prestige second only to that of being shown in the Archibald or Wynne museums.
Jane Watters, director of SH Ervin Gallery, holds a selection of works from this year’s Salon des Losers.Credit: Jenny Barrett
Jane Watters, director of the SH Ervin Gallery and one of the salon judges, likes to call the exhibition an “alternative perspective” on Archibald and Wynne.
In fact, Waters half-jokingly suggested that being selected for the Salon was actually Tougher Rather than gaining Archibald’s approval.
“This year the Archibald Prize selected 57 works from 1,005,” she said, “while our Archibald Prize selection only selected 38 works from (the remaining) 948. In fact, it is more difficult to get into the Salon than to get into the Archibald Prize.”
However, when Waters called to tell the artists that they had been selected for the Salon exhibition, their reaction was unpredictable.
Detail of Wendy Sharpe’s Self-Portrait with Incredible Creatures, which was shown at this year’s Salon des Failures.Credit:
“I call them and tell them their work was selected for the Salon, and they say, ‘So you mean I wasn’t selected for the Archibald?'” she said. “I’ve been told off a few times. Someone yelled on the phone, ‘This is the best painting I’ve ever done! What’s wrong with them?’
“But most artists are quite optimistic and they know that with 1,000 entries it’s always going to be a pretty daunting task to get into the competition.”
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