This is a list of finalists for the 2021 Archibald Prize for portraiture (listed is Artist – Title).[1][2] 52 artworks were selected from the 938 entries received. 2021 was the first year with gender parity among the artists.[3] As the images are copyrighted, an external link to an image has been listed where available.
- Benjamin Aitken – Gareth Sansom
- Julianne Ross Allcorn – I listen and they tell me the bush news
- Victoria Atkinson – Trent mango tree, all the colours of the rainbow, Trent
- Peter Berner – Stop pouting, you've had your turn
- Kate Beynon – Collaborative spirits
- Natasha Bieniek – Rachel Griffiths
- Karen Black – Professor Chandini Raina Macintyre
- Keith Burt – Sarah Holland-Batt – poet
- Ann Cape – The odd little bird (a portrait of Sam, Cam and Penguin Bloom)
- Tom Carment – Mara reading, in the kitchen at Mount Lofty
- Julia Ciccarone – The sea within (Winner: People's Choice Award 2021)[4]
- Jun Chen – Artist – Joe Furlonger
- Matthew Clarke – Del Kathryn Barton is a good listener
- Lucy Culliton – Self (bogong moth jumper)
- Dagmar Cyrulla – Wendy
- Jonathan Dalton – Ramesh and the artist Ramesh
- Sinead Davies – The charity worker
- Graeme Drendel – Portrait of Jill
- Jaye Early – Masato_Takasaka
- Jeremy Eden – Firass
- Hong Fu – Professor Mabel Lee
- Tsering Hannaford – Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC
- Pat Hoffie – Visaya in a c-colour
- Matthew Kentmann – Les
- Xeni Kusumitra – adrift
- Kim Leutwyler – Kim
- Richard Lewer – Liz Laverty
- Dapeng Liu – A mind–body dualism portrait of Joanna Capon
- Kathrin Longhurst – Kate (Winner: Packing Room Prize 2021)[5]
- Fiona Lowry – Matthys
- Mathew Lynn – Apprentice – self-portrait with Papa K (aka I do see colour)
- Shannon McCulloch – Ben
- William Mackinnon – Dark dad / extremis
- Euan Macleod – Blak Douglas
- Julian Meagher – Fozzy
- James Morrison – Portrait of Timothy Vernon Moore
- Sally M. Nangala Mulda – Two town camp stories
- Kirsty Neilson – Making noise
- Thea Anamara Perkins – Rachel
- James Powditch – Kerry O'Brien – all along the watch tower
- Jude Rae – Inside out
- Thom Roberts – A portriff of Adam (Shane Simpson AM)
- Joan Ross – Joan as a colonial woman looking at the future
- Sally Ross – Autoportrait
- Marikit Santiago – Filipiniana (self-portrait in collaboration with Maella Santiago Pearl)
- Kirthana Selvaraj – The green suit, a self-portrait
- Michael Snape – Stuart Purves
- Nick Stathopoulos – The white shirt – portrait of Tané Andrews
- Oliver Watts – Dorian Gray (Eryn Jean Norvill)
- Peter Wegner – Portrait of Guy Warren at 100 (Winner: Archibald Prize 2021)[6]
- Mirra Whale – Repose
- Eunice Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu – Me and my sisters
