Michael Zavros has won the People's Choice Award for the 2026 Archibald Prize for a portrait of author and Jewish advocate Alex Ryvchin.Accepting the award, worth $5,000, Zavros said the acknowledgement of visitors to the Archibald Prize was "genuinely humbling"."I'm deeply grateful that this portrait has connected with so many people."In his artist statement, Zavros said he had seen Ryvchin — the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry — in the media a lot after October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel."He spoke passionately about the pain in his community and the changes he feared would emerge in our nation," Zavros wrote.The artist, who recently uncovered his own Jewish heritage, then saw Ryvchin in the media again after December's Bondi attack.In his acceptance speech, Zavros said "Alex again showed the kind of leadership that many Australians were searching for" in the wake of the attack."Overwhelmingly, I don't believe Australians are racist Those things have no place in the country we aspire to be," Zavros said.Zavros also spoke about the common ground he shared with Ryvchin, being the child of migrants from Cyprus in the 50s, while Ryvchin was four when he and his family migrated to Australia from Ukraine as refugees in the 80s."I'm immensely proud of this work that Alex and I have made together."Zavros took out the audience-voted prize after a record 45,769 visitors voted.Zavros's win follows Richard Lewer winning the $100,000 Archibald Prize in May, for his portrait of Pitjantjatjara elder, artist and ngangkari (traditional healer) Iluwanti Ken