Tsering Hannaford Self-portrait after 'Allegory of Painting'

Tsering Hannaford’s portrait is inspired by a 17th-century painting by Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, titled Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura). ‘I had approached a different sitter, which didn’t eventuate, so I chose to reference an historical figure as I have in previous years through self-portraits,’ says Hannaford.

‘Gentileschi’s c1638–39 portrait inspired me – her use of two mirrors to observe the self in the act of painting is very clever. Taught by her artist father, Gentileschi was the first female member of the Academia of Art in Florence. She was a successful artist in her time; a court painter whose patrons included Charles I of England. Despite her accomplished body of work, she has often been defined by a sexual assault and subsequent trial. In the 20th century, however, she came to be recognised as one of the most inventive painters of her generation.’

Hannaford was born in 1987 in Adelaide. She is predominantly self-taught but has studied classical painting methods in New York, France and Adelaide through short courses and residencies. This is Hannaford’s sixth time as an Archibald Prize finalist.

Highly commended in the Archibald Prize 2020