Top prize for the annual Mosman Art Prize has been boosted to $50k as council seeks to add to its $5.3m collection

THE prestige of the Mosman Art Prize has been given a boost with the major prize almost doubling to $50,000.

The late Margaret Olley was the inaugural winner of the Mosman Art Prize in 1947.

• Opera gown sale sparks diva fever
• Council backs marriage equality

THE prestige of the Mosman Art Prize has been given a boost with the major prize almost doubling to $50,000.

The money is expected to be an added incentive to Australia’s top artists to enter the prize and add to the Mosman Art Collection which is already worth $5.3 million.

The prize is celebrating its 70th birthday this year, having been first awarded to Margaret Olley in 1947. The prize was then 50 guineas.

Margaret Olley was given 50 guineas for this award-winning 1947 painting.

The major prize will rise this year from $30,000 to $50,000 — a move strongly supported by Mosman Council who pays for the prize.

The winning painting is acquired for the Mosman Art Collection and the art prize winners form the backbone of the collection.

Mosman Mayor Peter Abelson said the prize was money well spent.

Mosman Mayor Peter Abelson said the prize money had not been appropriate for the standard of the competition.

“We felt it was time for the value of the prize to be refreshed,” he said.

“The $30,000 was out of line with what was appropriate for the standard of the competition. The Mosman Art Collection is a worthy collection and hopefully it will never be sold.”

Mosman Art Gallery director John Cheeseman said the Mosman Art Prize was not only a legacy for the Mosman community but “documented the cultural history of Australia”.

Queensland artist Michael Zavros won last year’s Mosman Art Prize.

The prize is the longest running and most prestigious municipal art prize in Australia and was once described as one of the cherished quartet of art prizes along with the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman.

The prize was increased in 2007 from $15,000 to $20,000, rising to $30,000 in 2011.

Registration is now open for the prize to be held in September.