Alec MacDonald, of Wellington, was awarded the $5000 first-place prize for his oil-on-board painting, The Pearl Necklace, at the awards last night.
"Given the standard of work in here, I’m really very astonished, really, that they picked me," MacDonald said.
"That painting is quite muted. It’s not very colourful or bright or anything.
"Normally, it wouldn’t be noticed, so I’m really pleased that it was."
The painting was based on a stereograph he found in a junk shop which had deteriorated, he said.
MacDonald said he had never heard of the awards before, but was encouraged by his wife to enter two paintings after she picked up a brochure.
"I was thinking, ‘gosh, it’s a lot of effort’ and all that sort of thing, and why bother?
"I think ‘gobsmacked’ is the word."
Judge Holly Mackinven, of the Dunedin School of Art, said MacDonald’s "meticulously crafted painting" presented a thoughtful reimagining of a photographic moment.
"What might have been tucked away in a family album as a secondary image from a formal occasion is instead drawn into view, inviting us to linger with its subtle emotional ambiguity," she said.
The two-yearly awards, hosted by the Otago Art Society at the Dunedin Railway Station, featured 176 artworks selected from 335 entries.
Previously open only to South Island artists, this marked the first time the awards were offered nationally.
The Otago Art Society is also celebrating its 150th year this year.
Before the Hunt by Karlalise Horstmans was awarded second place ($3000); Canada, Autumn 2025 — A Walk in the Woods by Jane Whitaker was in third place ($1000); and Sheltering or Hiding? by Khoa Pham won the Young Artist award ($500).
The exhibition will continue until April 11.
