There are 57 finalists hung by the Art Gallery of NSW out of 949 entries in total, and that's just for the Archibald.
It's one of three prestigious art prizes to be announced Friday - there's also the $50,000 Wynne Prize for landscape painting or figurative sculpture and the $40,000 Sulman Prize for subject, genre or mural works.
Some of the Archibald contenders include Hallowed Be Thy Name by Marikit Santiago, a picture of the artist with her three children rendered in acrylics, house paint and gold leaf.
It's a painting about her experience as a Filipina-Australian and her decision to change her children's surname to her own.
There's also Danie Mellor's A portrait of intimacy, a portrait of gallerist Gene Sherman after the death of her husband Brian Sherman in 2022.
A portrait of New Zealand-born comedian Cal Wilson by Cairns-based artist Andrea Huelin has already been announced as the winner of this year's Packing Room Prize - known as the "kiss of death'', because no artist has won it and gone on to take out the Archibald.
Whoever wins, these competitions are a bellwether for Australian arts, with even the numbers adding to the picture, even if the Archibald in particular is sometimes dismissed as a whole lot of fuss about not very much.
For the first time in 2023, there are more works by women (30) than men (27) selected as Archibald finalists.
Across all three competitions there are more entries than ever from Aboriginal artists, with 101 entries in total and 38 selected as finalists.
The paintings will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW from May 6 to September 3, and then tour until June 2024.
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