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

Melbourne artist Fiona O'Byrne has won the 2026 Richard Lester Prize for Portraiture with an oil-on-linen painting of her daughter. The winning work, Luci, now, depicts the 20-year-old seated on a stool. The award carries $50,000, ABC News reported. O'Byrne has painted her children for more than a decade, so the subject is part of a continuing body of work rather than a one-off commission created only for the competition.

The judges highlighted the portrait's intimacy and the treatment of light and small details. They also noted the apparent ease of the sitter's expression. O'Byrne has described the act of painting her daughter as a way to spend time observing her at a particular stage of life. That explanation gives the work a personal context, while the award recognises the painting as a piece of portraiture in its own right.

O'Byrne began painting as an adult and has balanced art with landscape architecture. She told ABC News that winning the prize would allow her to explore ideas without the immediate pressure to sell work. The Lester Prize is held at WA Museum Boola Bardip in Perth. The same program also recognised emerging artist Yasamin Khadembashi with the Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize for a self-portrait inspired by Iranian folklore.

The central news is the decision of the 2026 prize judges and the work they selected. Reactions to the image are subjective, so this report attributes the judges' assessment rather than treating artistic opinion as a factual finding. It is based on ABC News's coverage of the award announcement and the artist's own comments.