List of Archibald Prize 1997 finalists

• Rick Amor – Peter Carey at the VACB Studio, Soho, New York
• Tom Carment – Roger McDonald at work
• Judy Cassab – Elwyn Lynn
• Peter Churcher – Portrait of John S. Levi, first Australian Born Rabbi
• Fred Cress – David Williamson
• Adam Cullen – Portrait of Mikey Robins
• Elisabeth Cummings – Jean Appleton
• Merilyn Fairskye – Jackie 2
• Joe Furlonger – Self-portrait with model
• George Gittoes – John Olsen
• Robert Hannaford – Paul Davies
• Nicholas Harding – Portrait of Kevin Connor
• Bill Leak – Tex '
• Kerrie Lester – Janet Vernon in reflection
• Mathew Lynn – Jeanne Ryckmans ' Highly Commended
• Jocelyn Maughan – Dr John Yu
• Lewis Miller – Portrait of Allan Mitelman II
• Henry Mulholland – Dr Peter Elliott
• Paul Newton – Kate and Barbie
• Rodney Pople –
• Jenny Sages – Greg Weight making a portrait of Tom Bass
• Timothy Schultz – Odalisque – portrait of Wendy Sharpe
• Martin Sharp – Tiny Tim, Eternal Troubadour
• Garry Shead – Carpe Diem – Adam Rish
• Jiawei Shen – Seven self-portraits
• Kim Spooner – Expecting each moment to be his next
• Nigel Thomson – Barbara Blackman
• Imants Tillers – Portrait of a Chancellor
• Greg Warburton – Genni Batterham OAM
• Dick Watkins – Des O'Brien
• Salvatore Zofrea – Summer of the Seventeenth Doll Opera