2025 Mosman Art Prize Winner

Mark Maurangi Carrol takes out the 2025 Mosman Art Prize for Blue Boat.

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Mark Maurangi Carrol has taken out the prestigious 2025 Mosman Art Prize for his evocative work Blue boat (crowd on the island of Mangaia). The striking piece reinterprets a 1900 photograph by Frederick W. Sears, originally depicting a crowd watching the government vessel Tutanaekai off Mangaia in the Cook Islands. Carrol’s version strips away the crowd, instead placing a single, modern figure—his brother—at the centre, creating a haunting meditation on place, history, and identity.

“In this work, I extract the setting’s conceptual residue but remove the crowd entirely, inserting instead a solitary, contemporary figure,” Carrol explained.

The Mosman Art Prize, established in 1947, is one of Australia’s most respected painting awards, celebrating the power of the medium to tell stories and capture change. This year’s top honour is a national acquisitive prize worth $70,000, funded by Mosman Council, ensuring Carrol’s work will join the Gallery’s esteemed permanent collection.

Other major awards were also announced:

• Margaret Olley Commendation Award ($10,000): Tim Price for Life’s on Tim

• Allan Gamble Award ($5,000): Celia Gullett for Variations series V

• Guy Warren Emerging Artist Award ($3,000): Emily Galicek for Sampler (design for a ceiling)

• Installers’ Choice Award: Jumaadi for Dalam Gerimis [In the Mist]

• Viewers’ Choice Award ($1,000): to be announced in the exhibition’s final week.

The 2025 judging panel was led by Justin Paton, Head Curator of International Art at the Art Gallery of NSW and acclaimed art writer, who praised the breadth and ambition of this year’s entries.

The Mosman Art Prize exhibition is now open at Mosman Art Gallery and runs until Sunday, 2 November 2025.