Craig Ruddy was an Australian artist who won the 2004 Archibald Prize for his charcoal drawing of David Gulpilil entitled Two Worlds.
Craig Ruddy’s portrait of the Aboriginal actor won both the $35,000 Archibald portrait prize and the People’s Choice Award in both Sydney and Melbourne.
However, another artist Tony Johansen, took legal action against the Art Gallery of New South Wales Trust over the portrait, arguing that because Ruddy predominantly used charcoal in his work, it was a drawing, not a painting, and therefore was ineligible for the prize. In June 2006, the NSW Supreme Court dismissed Johansen’s claims.
In August 2006, Craig Ruddy’s Two Worlds sold to a private collector at the Sotheby’s auction in Sydney for $312,000.
In 2010 Craig Ruddy won the Archibald People’s Choice Prize for his portrait of Warwick Thornton entitled The Prince of Darkness.
What illness did Craig Ruddy have?
As a child, Craig Ruddy had a rare lung condition.
Explaining what was actually happening to him in an interview, Craig Ruddy said;
“As a child I had a rare lung condition where my lungs would haemorrhage, leaving me anaemic and short of breath. It slowed me down and put me into a strange euphoric state. As a result I learnt to sit and observe.”