The men bonded over their shared experience of losing close family members to cancer. Johnson, who founded the cancer research charity Love Your Sister with his late sister Connie before she passed away in 2017, encouraged Eden to include his own story in the painting; the portrait shows Johnson holding a photograph of Eden’s mother Annette, who passed away from cancer in 2008.“This painting has been one I have been thinking about and wanting to make for 10 years,” he said.
Love Your Sister has raised more than $15m in support of cancer research. In 2016, Johnson was awarded the Order of Australia Medal, for his service to cancer research and performing arts.“He is an extraordinary storyteller, has a huge heart and deserves this acknowledgement so fully. To win the Archibald prize you have to satisfy a select group of people who really know their stuff. To win the people’s choice takes in the votes of everyone who sees the exhibition.
“We congratulate Jeremy Eden on capturing the hearts of our visitors with his powerful portrait of Samuel Johnson,” Page said. Born in Sydney in 1988, Eden completed a bachelor of fine art at Queensland College of Art in 2015. He was also nominated for the Archibald prize in 2021, for hisFirst awarded in 1988, the people’s choice category this year was voted on by more than 35,000 people, the highest ever number of votes cast in the history of the category.