Julie Fragar won the 2025 Archibald Award for his compatriot Justene Williams.

On Friday, the NSW Gallery announced the winner of the $100,000 prize, flagship mother Multiverse (Justene) was unanimously selected by 904 contestants and 57 finalists.

Fragar is just the 13th woman to win the award in 104 years of history. This is Archibald's 15th time awarded a woman, with Judy Cassab and Del Kathryn Barton winning twice.

Accepting her award, four-time finalist Fragar said she chose to portray Williams: “For three reasons: She is a dear friend, a great artist and captured her another world.”

Fragar and Williams work together at the Queensland Institute of Art and Design; Fragar is the head of painting and Williams is the head of sculpture.

Archibald is Australia's most prestigious portrait award, awarded to a person's best portrait "features in art, letters, science or politics drawn among Australian residents" and has been operating since 1921.

In addition to Archibald, a $50,000 award for Landscape Painting and Frame Sculpture was awarded Friday to Jude Rae because her paintings were dawn sky above the Port of Botany container terminal.

The Sydney artist, a three-time Wynne finalist, depicts “I saw through the bathroom window, four flights from Redfern Hill” – looking toward Botany Bay in Sydney, the geographical birthplace of Australia’s colonial Australia, in sight, the sight of a city once a native of the bay.

Ray accepted her prize, "I saw the lights at the container dock glittering 24/7 and look small."

Priced at $40,000 Surman style, theme and mural award, went to Gene A'Hern for sky painting. The artist, from Katoomba, Blue Mountain, used oil and oil rods to do the work on the boat, which he said was "about home and place".

This year’s Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Awards received a record 2394 entries, with more than 70% of the finalists in the three awards being female artists.

The first nominee has drawn more than one-third of this year's 57 Archibald Finals.

Celebrity nannies are a minority. Instead, the artists are mainly based on the theme, with more than a dozen finalists taking self-portraits, and 22 are portraits of another artist.

Last week, artist Abdul Abdullah won the $3,000 Packaging Room Award category - decided by AGNSW staff, who hang paintings every year - as his portrait of artist Jason Phu is also a finalist for this year.

Abdullah's playful painting, titled "The Mountain Not High enough", depicts phu sitting on a horse.

Archibald, Wynne and Sulman finalists are all publicly displayed on AGNSW from Saturday to August 17.

Archibald's finalists will then head to Geelong, Gosford, Muswell Brook, Marchbrook, Shoalhaven and Coffs Harbour, and head to go later this year and in 2026.