Fiona O'Byrne wins 2026 Lester Prize with painting of daughter

Key points

• Melbourne-based artist Fiona O'Byrne has won the $50,000 Richard Lester Prize for Portraiture with an oil-on-linen painting of her 20-year-old daughter. Titled Luci, now, the work shows her daughter seated on a stool with a neutral expression.
• Judges praised the softness and tenderness of the portrait and its unlaboured handling of paint. Perth-based Yasamin Khadembashi won the $10,000 Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize for her two-metre self portrait Immoral Warrior.
• The prize received more than 1,100 submissions this year. The 40 finalist works are on display at WA Museum Boola Bardip until November 29.