ART ALMANAC | Monthly exhibition + awards guide | August 2026

Awards are on our minds each month at Art Almanac. This time, Sasha Grishin – a finalist judge for the painting award – takes us through the Percivals 2026 and the power of portraiture “to restore dignity to the human semblance.” Master works are another treat. Victoria Hynes traces the remarkable genesis of a gift in Facing Modernity: Degas to Picasso at Shepparton Art Museum – defining figures of European modernism, not seen before in Australia – that has allowed us to have an André Derain on our cover.

Bronwyn Watson’s On display pick, an Édouard Vuillard colour lithograph, sits well alongside our masters – with figures against the iron of the Pont de l’Europe subverting the narrative of Paris as a great industrialised centre, turning majesty into domesticity, to paraphrase Art Gallery of South Australia’s Tansy Curtin. We enjoy more of South Australia with the maturing of our Two up series, this time the concurrent works of Tony Garifalakis and Hari Koutlakis at Hugo Michell Gallery; as Emma-Kate Wilson discovers, much is revealed coming alongside a gallery’s monthly offering. We hope you enjoy the read – this one’s for the nominees.

Art Almanac | Australia’s leading monthly guide to “what’s on” in the arts: exhibitions, events, workshops, open studios, artist opportunities, art awards and services. August 2026 features $510k+ in art prizes/funding, 640+ galleries, and 380+ artists, both emerging and established.