Artist Leslie Sharpe paints Stephen Stewart, The Oldest Lore-Man, for Archibald Prize 2022

After reading an ABC article on Australia's oldest Indigenous man, artist Leslie Sharpe knew he wanted to meet Ngarla elder Stephen Stewart and paint his portrait for the national portrait competition, the Archibald Prize. Key points: New South Wales-based artist Leslie Sharpe travelled to the Pilbara to meet Stephen Stewart and paint his portrait Mr Stewart is a senior lore-man, a renowned stockman and jockey, and a respected elder The painting was entered in the 2022 Archibald Prize, with finalists to be announced on May 5 He said reading the article about the Karajarri Nyangumarta man helped him "understand" a bit about Mr Stewart's life. "I got out of bed and went to my wife and said, 'I'm going to enter the Archibald, and I'm going to see if I can connect with Mr Stephen Stewart,' and that's how it started," Mr Sharpe said. Australia's oldest Aboriginal man Stephen Stewart and artist Les Sharpe met in Port Hedland for the first time.