Australia's New South Wales artist Tim Storrier has won the 2012 Archibald Prize for the best portrait, with his painting, "The histrionic wayfarer (after Bosch)", local media reported on Friday.

Storrier's faceless portrait was selected from 41 finalists drawn from a total entry of more than 800 works to win the most important portraiture prize in Australia this year.

The 52-year-old winning artist, who was born in Sydney and lives and works in Bathurst in New South Wales, has been awarded a first prize of 75,000 AU dollars (78,000 U.S. dollars), a rise of 25,000 AU dollars (26,000 U.S. dollars) from last year.

Storrier's work features a pith-helmeted figure with no face, wearing glasses, carrying an over-stuffed backpack, which includes his dog Smudge.

A drawing of the artist's face can only be seen on a small piece of paper floating in the air in the background of the painting.

"It was never designed initially as a self-portrait," Storrier told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

"It started out as being a reverential work to a painting by Bosch called The Wayfarer, which is essentially about a pilgrim making a decision between good and evil," he said.

The finalists will go on public display at the Art Gallery from Saturday.

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