What was his intention when he set up the bequest?

He was a contemporary and friend of William Dobell, for whom the figure and face conveyed infinite emotional and social meanings He was trained in an era when art schools based much of their teaching on drawing from the live model. He must have been conscious of the cultural history of the human figure from the classical Greek measure of perfection to the inner power of early Buddhist figures from China and Japan. And today the figure has become the subject for comic books and street art.

Let us remember what we are now missing: For at least 3000 years artists have venerated, even loved, the human body. As a subject, it is something to which we can all relate. We know instinctively how it works, but in the world we inhabit the human form has lost its allure for painters, denying us a measure of other human lives.

As recently as Picasso or Francis Bacon, the figure was central, even if distorted by the tug between love and hate.

As we see in the current exhibition of the 30 finalists, selected from 400 entries in the 2019 Kilgour Prize exhibition, the human image today can seem as much about the artist as the sitter or the scene.

The work judged this year's winner, Blak Douglas's powerful earth-coloured schematic portrait of celebrated actor and singer Ursula Yovich, creates a finely judged balance between the polemic of the Aboriginal activist and the commanding stance of this well known cultural icon, with force-field lines radiating into the future from the solidly defined upright figure, shown standing on a chair on the left hand side of the canvas.

Blak Douglas is the activist name chosen by Adam Douglas Hill, child of a white father and Aboriginal mother, who grew up in Sydney. His training in photography and graphic design rather than in painting is obvious in various notable works we've seen in recent years in Newcastle, particularly in thematic social protest exhibitions at The Lock-Up.

The choice of this work could be indicative of a new direction for the prize, also seen in the selection of the final works for exhibition. While there is a wall of overt portraits, curiously focusing on black and white, many of the paintings have narratives based on the lively traditions of street art. The instant Aussiefication of comedian Nazeem Hussain, assisted by a large jar of Vegemite, painted by Melissa Ritchie is a good example. Lori Pensini's anonymous Aboriginal faces from Rottnest Island are as polemical as visual.

Strong narratives come from Stephen Pleban on climate change and Michael Bell, whose teasing allegory seems to show the Hand of God dowsing a lavish picnic. Peter Gardiner's vivid black and white painting shows a single pilgrim figure slung about with the facts and follies of the world. Various artists deal with disintegration. Jenny Rodgerson has a challengingly frontal nude self-portrait, convincingly painted, but with something disturbingly off key. It is a serious painting in the great tradition.

Emotionally animated portraits come from David Fairbairn, Nigel Milsom, Joshua McPherson and others, some heavily dependent on photographs.

It is interesting to look back on the variety of previous winners, starting with Nicholas Harding's solidly physical beach scene in 2006.

Dallas Bray won twice with convincing fanciful allegories.

Peter Gardiner inserted Courbet's The Origin of the World into a romantic landscape.

There has been family history and a serene elderly lady with her dog.

Most recently, young painters have created self-portraits on surprising supports.

Is an emphasis on individual identity as important a trend in art as in public life?

Is there any thought about giving us a salon des refusés exhibition? It would highlight the role of the selection committee and undoubtedly produce some surprises.

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NEWS FROM NEWCASTLE'S CULTURAL SCENE