Archibald Prize 1980
Entries: 206 (30 selected)
Exhibition dates: 28 February to 22 March 1981
Only selected works were exhibited; each artist could submit up to two works
The newly appointed board of trustees unanimously decided not to award the prize on the grounds that there was no entry worthy of the award. This had only happened once before, in 1964.
- Ian Armstrong - Jeannie Lewis
- Yvonne Audette - Portrait of Robert Klippel
- Marcus Beilby - The author Richard Beilby
- John Bloomfield - Keith Looby - works in progress
- Charles Bush - Sir John Kerr
- Phil Clarke - Yes mate! - Clive Evatt
- Kevin Connor - Portrait of Margaret Connor in Paris
- Kevin Connor - Portrait of James Gleeson
- Glenn Dick - Donald Exton
- Brian Dunlop - Joseph Brown
- Merryll Evans - Don Chipp
- Frank Hodgkinson - Clifton Pugh and Dr Colin Jack-Hinton in Arnhem Land
- Michael Kmit - Mrs Kmit
- Geoff La Gerche - The anguish and anger of Xavier Herbert
- Patricia Lemaire - Andrea
- Keith Looby - Anne Summers: God's police dolls
- Ruth Lowe - Self-portrait
- Josonia Palaitis - Musician Adrian Dangerfield
- L Scott Pendlebury - His Honor Judge Lazarus
- Judy Pennefather - Venie Sculenberg
- Lesley Pockley - RV Pockley
- Eric John Smith - Fred Williams
- Joshua Smith - Yve Close, artist
- Lillian Sutherland - Self-portrait
- Neil Taylor - Reach sequence (Brandon Cavallari)
- Vicki Varvaressos - Frank Watters
- Wes Walters - Portrait of Roger Woodward OBE
- Margaret Woodward - Self-portrait
- Salvatore Zofrea - Portrait of Father
- Reinis Zusters - Portrait of Bill Pidgeon