BP Portrait Award 2009 Winner

News Release    

17 June 2009

 ART TEACHER WINS BP PORTRAIT AWARD WITH PAINTING OF TWILIGHT DAUGHTER

- Surrey artist wins £25,000 first prize for his first BP shortlisted work after three years of being exhibited

ON TUESDAY 16 JUNE 2009 the winner of the BP Portrait Award 2009 was announced by Sebastian Faulks at the National Portrait Gallery. In a record-breaking year for entries the prestigious first prize was won by 44-year-old Surrey artist Peter Monkman. His winning portrait, Changeling 2, is part of a series of portraits of his daughter, Anna, at different stages of her life. Peter wins £25,000 and a commission, at the National Portrait Gallery Trustees' discretion, worth £4,000.

The second prize of £8,000 goes to Michael Gaskell for Tom and the third prize of £6,000 goes to Annalisa Avancini for Manuel.       

There is, also for the third time, the BP Young Artist Award of £5,000 for the work of an entrant aged between 18 and 30. This has been won by Mark Jameson for Benfica Blue.  

Peter Monkman (b.1964) for Changeling 2 (oil on canvas, 1220 x 900 mm) was shortlisted for the first time this year, having been included in the BP Portrait Award exhibition in 1999, 2001 and 2003. Currently Director of Art at Charterhouse School, Surrey, Monkman, 44, studied visual arts at the University of Lancaster, John Moores University Liverpool and the University of

London. The shortlisted portrait is part of a series of portraits of his daughter exploring the concept of the changeling, a child substituted for another by stealth, often with an elf. ‘I challenge the fixed notion of an idealised image of childhood and substitute it for a more unsettling, complex, representation that exists in its own right as a painting.' The initial ideas for this portrait came from photographic studies of Anna playing in woods in Brittany where the light had a magical quality.

Second Prize: Michael Gaskell (b.1963) for Tom (egg tempera on board, 270 x 210 mm). Michael Gaskell lives in Sheffield and won Second Prize in the BP Portrait Award previously in 2003 and was commended in both 2001 and 1999. He studied at St Helen's College of Art and Design and Coventry Polytechnic and has been exhibiting his work for over twenty years. The shortlisted portrait is of his son, Tom, who was 17 at the time of the first sitting. ‘He was at the period in adolescence between boy and manhood and fleetingly suspended between both.' Gaskell continued to work on the portrait over the next two years. ‘In spirit my painting owes most to Botticelli's Portrait of a Young Man which is its primary inspiration and a painting I've always loved. The pose itself is more reminiscent of a number of portraits by Holbein, an artist I greatly admire.'

Third Prize: Annalisa Avancini (b.1973 ) for Manuel (oil on board, 1000 x 800). Annalisa, 35, is a painter and design teacher from Italy who studied at the Arts High School of Trento and the Marangoni Institute in Milan. This was the third time that Avancini had painted Manuel, 31. She says, ‘His eclectic personality is what attracts me. His story shines through his face. Despite his young age his life is rich in experience.' Avancini started this most recent portrait last summer, attracted by the contrast between Manuel's expression, the battered chair and the sunlight coming in through the window. Avancini's work has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions throughout Europe and the United States and she won First Prize in both the 1st Contemporary Art Show 2006 at the Museum of the Americas, Miami and the Painting Prize for Young Artists 2007 at the Verona Fine Art Society.

Young Artist Award: Mark Jameson (b.1979) for Benfica Blue (oil and acrylic on canvas, 1220 x 762 mm). Mark Jameson, 29, painted his award winning portrait of his sister, Lyndsey, in less than a month. The sittings took place at his parent's house in County Durham. He says, ‘It was my intention to capture aspects of the subject's persona, but also to convey this in a modern and relevant way. That said the acrid colours and an informal composition contribute to an accessible and honest account. This piece is not to my mind entirely finished. I hope that perhaps its technical shortcomings are in keeping with the character of the piece.' Since graduating from Sunderland University with a degree in Fine Art in 2003, Jameson has acquired a handful of commissions through local art dealers and hopes to be able to become a full time artist in the future.

In addition, The BP Travel Award 2009 winner was also announced last night. Isobel Peachey wins for her proposal to travel to Belgium and Switzerland to sketch and paint portraits of those taking part in historical re-enactments. She will visit The Company of Saynt George, a Swiss group re-enacting the history of a small artillery company from the 15th Century at the Castle of Lenzburg, near Zurich, and The Napoleonic Association who portray the life of a military encampment near Antwerp in Belgium. Peachey hopes to capture the unique mix of history, culture, authentic settings and the participants' passionate involvement in recreating the past. She receives a bursary of £5,000 to travel and paint portraits for display in next year's BP Portrait Award exhibition.

The work of the BP Travel Award 2008 winner Emmanouil Bitsakis will be on display at this year's exhibition. Bitsakis travelled to north-west China to paint portraits of the minority Uigur people who are a far eastern branch of the extended family of Turkic peoples. The Uigur are culturally distinct from the majority Han Chinese and alongside their religion of Islam, their music and dance idiom, ‘Muqam' is the core of their identity and culture.

BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2008 EXHIBITION

The BP Portrait Award 2009 and Travel Award 2008, National Portrait Gallery, London, 18 June-20 September 2009, Admission free.

The BP Portrait Award 2009 was judged anonymously from 1,901 registered entries.  For the third year running, the competition has been open to all over the age of 18, and of the 1,901 entries 881 (46%) were from artists aged 40 or over. 524 entries (28% of the total) came from outside the UK. 56 portraits (38 from the UK and 18 from abroad) have been selected for the exhibition.

The Portrait Award, now in its 30th year at the National Portrait Gallery and 20th year of sponsorship by BP, is a highly successful annual event aimed at encouraging artists to focus upon, and develop, the theme of painted portraiture within their work.

The competition was judged from original paintings by this year's panel;

  • James Holloway, Director, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh
  • Charlotte Mullins, art historian and critic
  • Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London (Chair)
  • Des Violaris, Director, UK Arts and Culture, BP
  • Gillian Wearing, artist

Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, says: ‘This is a superb, magical portrait - a very worthy winner for the BP Portrait Award.'

Des Violaris, Director, UK Arts and Culture, BP, says: ‘This competition continues to go from strength to strength - both in quantity and in quality. The winning portraits and those selected for this year's exhibition clearly demonstrate the vitality of portraiture and its enduring attraction for artists of all ages from across the world.'

The BP Travel Award is open to applications from any of the BP Portrait Award-exhibited artists. The BP Travel Award was judged by Liz Rideal, Art Resource Developer, National Portrait Gallery, Des Violaris, Director, UK Arts and Culture, BP, and Flora Fricker, Exhibition Manager, National Portrait Gallery.

TOUR

The exhibition will tour to Southampton City Art Gallery and the Dean Gallery of the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh in 2009/2010.

PUBLICATION

A fully-illustrated book accompanies the exhibition and features an introductory essay by Sarah Dunant, the best-selling author of the The Birth of Venus. The BP Portrait Award 2009 book will be published on 18 June 2008, and will include 60 colour illustrations, price £8.50 (pbk).

FAMILY TRAIL

A family trail and labels featuring exclusive illustrations by award-winning children's book author and BP Portrait Award 2008 exhibitor, Oliver Jeffers, will lead families through a range of fun and engaging activities within this year's exhibition. The trail and labels will encourage family members to look closer at key works and find out about recurring themes in the exhibition such as hats and headgear, interiors and expressions.

BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2009 - OVERALL FIGURES 

  • Total number of entrants 1,901
  • UK Entries 1,377 (72%)
  • International Entries 524 (28%)
  • Entrants aged over 40 881 (46.3%)
  • Entrants aged 30 and under 490 (25.7%)
  • Entrants aged between 30 and 40 525 (27.6%)

BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2009 - EXHIBITION FIGURES (56 SELECTED FROM TOTAL ENTRY)   

  • Exhibitors aged over 40                               26 (46.4%)
  • Exhibitors aged 30 and under                       12 (21.4%)
  • Exhibitors aged 30 - 40 years                       18 (32.1%)
  • International artists                                     18 (32.1%)
  • Countries represented by artists in Exhibition (other than UK):

Israel (2); USA (6); Italy (1); South Africa (1); Belgium (1); Ireland (2); Germany (1); Spain (4)

National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE. Opening hours Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday: 10am - 6pm (Gallery closure commences at 5.50pm) Late Opening: Thursday, Friday: 10am - 9pm (Gallery closure commences at 8.50pm) Recorded information: 020 7312 2463 General information: 020 7306 0055  Website: www.npg.org.uk Underground: Leicester Square/Charing Cross

For further press information please contact:
Eleanor Macnair, Press Office, National Portrait Gallery
Tel 020 7 321 6620 (not for publication) Email emacnair@npg.org.uk