Prizewinners At The 128Th Annual Exhibition Of The Violet Guild Of Portrait Painters

One of my recurrent themes inward recent years has been almost how fine art societies actually need to acquire their acts together as well as highlight those artists as well as paintings that win prizes - spell the exhibition is electrical current as well as non past.

Otherwise it's

Neither supporting the artists;
Nor showing courtesy to the sponsors of the prizes - who create similar to encounter some recognition

I'd idea neat strides had been made - but plainly non amongst all societies.....

It's thence real distressing to study that this calendar week the Royal Society of Portrait Painters has completely failed to brand whatever advert of its prizewinners at the 2019 Annual Exhibition - which opened on to the populace on Th - on

its website - Prizes soundless lists all the 2018 winners
its Twitter account - no advert at all - although other portraits are beingness highlighted as well as references are beingness made to concluding year's topic (re The RP Award!)
its Instagram account - no advert at all

It's a real neat compassion equally these are decent prizes as well as neat paintings - as well as I'm certain the artists would appreciate a mention. Most of the viewing populace - especially those who purchase or committee - are online these days as well as you lot can't ignore online!

HOWEVER, The Mall Galleries Blog has posted Introducing the abide by winners from this year's Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition.

Nevertheless for the sake of completeness I volition proceed amongst mine - non to the lowest degree because the link on Facebook to the post kept returning the "This site can’t render a secure connecter - bit.ly uses an unsupported protocol" message on both Chrome as well as Safari - earlier I could acquire it to demonstrate me the post!

In contrast to the Mall galleries spider web log post, I'm listing the prizes inward monastic say of the monetary value of the Prize - as well as volition also add together commentary on each one.

The Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture (10,000)

The Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture is sponsored yesteryear Sir Christopher Ondaatje CBE OC as well as the Ondaatje Foundation, this generous prize of a £10,000 cheque plus the Society’s Gold Medal is awarded for the most distinguished portrait of the year.

The winner of Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture 2019 is Peter Kuhfeld RP NEAC.

It's quite the smallest Ondaatje Prize I've seen inward recent years. I'd quite got used to them tending to survive rather large. This yesteryear agency of contrast is a modest as well as quite subtle icon - real unflashy, but interesting nonetheless.

Winner of the Ondaatje Prize 2019
Executive Chef yesteryear Peter Kuhfeld RP NEAC
oil, 38 x 38cm (15 x xv inches) NFS

Interestingly it's a long fourth dimension since this creative soul concluding won a prize (he won the The Prince of Wales Prize for Portrait Drawing inward 2002) - although he won a lot spell at the Royal Academy Schools. One gets the impression this is non an creative soul who pursues prizes.

The creative soul was born on 4 March 1952 inward Cheltenham - the entirely kid of a High German prisoner of state of war as well as an English linguistic communication classical pianist. He afterward studied fine art at Leicester School of Art (1972-76) prior to teaching fine art at Rugby School of Art (1976-1978) as well as farther postgraduate study at School of Painting, Royal Academy Schools as well as then taught at the Royal Academy Schools inward 1981. He was elected to membership of the New English linguistic communication Art Club inward 1986 as well as the Royal Society of Portrait Painters inward 1992 - from which he resigned inward 2005 (according to Wikipedia - although he appears to convey returned to the plication at a later date).

Prince Charles has been a patron of his as well as Kuhfeld painted portraits of Prince William as well as Prince Harry inward 1986. He also commissioned yesteryear HRH The Prince of Wales to pigment the regal marriage of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge as well as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. In 2009, he painted a memorable portrait of Harry Patch, who was the oldest human being inward Europe as well as the concluding surviving scrap soldier of the First World War from whatever country.

He has accompanied HRH The Prince as well as Princess of Wales - equally a trip creative soul - on a number of overseas trips inward 1990, 1991, 1993, 2004, as well as 2010. I'd beloved to encounter his sketchbooks!

The de Laszlo Foundation Award (£3,000)

The de Laszlo Foundation award, worth £3,000 as well as sponsored yesteryear the de Laszlo Foundation, aims to encourage immature artists. It is awarded, together amongst a silvery medal, to an creative soul nether 30 5 years former judged to convey submitted the best portrait.

The Winner of The de Laszlo Foundation Award 2019 is Joshua Waterhouse who entered his portrait icon via the opened upwards entry. It's a fascinating icon which is business office portrait as well as business office soundless life - amongst both beingness painted extremely well. I loved the Holbein blueish background.

The portrait is of Jack Stanger, a retired aeronautical engineer.

Commissioned yesteryear the Stanger family, the icon depicts its dependent area tinkering amongst a grasshopper escapement clock he made from scratch, surrounded yesteryear the paraphernalia of an engineer’s workshop. The odd silhouette inward the background is a nod to the engineer’s involvement inward Concorde during his career.

Winner of The de Laszlo Foundation Award 2019
The Engineer by Joshua Waterhouse
fossil oil 75 x 92cm (30 x 36 inches) NFS

Joshua Waterhouse is aged 30, was born in Newcastle inward 1989 as well as currently lives inward Camden. He did a Foundation inward Art & Design at Edinburgh College of Art, followed yesteryear studying Fine Art & French at Aberystwyth University, graduating inward 2014 amongst a First Class Honours. He also spent a yr inward Paris studying Art History at La Sorbonne.

He is a hyper-realist portrait creative soul as well as he likes to pigment inward fossil oil on forest inward a highly meticulous way, producing portraits amongst a heightened sense of realism, where every surface exceptional is given equal consideration. He divides his fourth dimension betwixt working on private commissions as well as independent projects.

Below is a video of him icon the portrait.

The Engineer from Joshua Waterhouse on Vimeo.

The RP Award (£2,000) - on the topic of 'skin'

The £2,000 RP Award is made to the creative soul whose operate best represents the year’s chosen topic – which was Skin.

The Winner inward 2019 is James Hague. His operate ever has a real 3D character to it due to the agency he paints. It also is somewhat similar the early on operate of Lucian Freud who, of course, ever loved to seek as well as notice the color of skin.

His icon suggests a sculptural character of the pare equally good equally the trunk form. What's actually interesting is that his icon shell Emma Hopkins - who ever paints people nude - as well as she is ane of the shortlisted painters for the BP Portrait Award inward 2019 (however he won that abide by inward 1996!)

Winner of the RP Award
Tom by James Hague RP
oil, 114cm x 84cm (45 x 33 inches) NFS

James Hague is 49. He was born inward 1970 inward Nottingham as well as studied Fine Art at The University of Northumbria at Newcastle (1989-1993). Later, he did a 3 yr postgraduate bird inward icon at the Royal College of Art (2004-2006). He lives as well as industrial plant betwixt East London as well as Copenhagen.

I similar to operate from life, this unremarkably involves making a serial of drawings as well as photographs over 3-6 sittings which I later operate from inward the studio.

Key achievements:

In 1996 - earlier he studied icon at the Royal College of Art(!) - he won the BP Portrait Award.
His portrait committee - of Michael Caine (painted inward 1998) - straightaway hangs inward the National Portrait Gallery. It was painted inward Michael Caine's apartment inward London as well as was the number of 5 sittings totalling almost 12 hours.
In 2006 he won the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize.
Last yr (2018) he won the £10,000 Ondaatje Award making him (I think) entirely the minute creative soul ever to win the BP Portrait Award as well as the Ondaatje Award. (The other is James Lloyd)
He was latterly elected to membership of the RP but I'm non certain of the appointment as well as it's non stated anywhere.

The Burke’s Peerage Foundation Award (£2,000)

The Burke’s Peerage Foundation Award, established yesteryear its co-founders Mark Ayre as well as William Bortrick inward 2015, is presented for Classically Inspired Portraiture inward the RP Annual Exhibition. It is presented each yr amongst a certificate as well as a cheque for £2,000.

The winner of the Burke's Peerage Foundation Award 2019 is Phoebe Dickinson

This icon was submitted via the Open Entry as well as was also Highly Commended for the De Lazlo Award.

Winner of the Burke's Peerage Foundation Award
Rose at Houghton yesteryear Phoebe Dickinsonoil, 152 x 126cm (60 x fifty inches) NFS

Phoebe Dickinson has trained at a number of independent fine art schools

Charles H Cecil Studios, Florence Italy
Lavender Hill Studios, London
The Prince’s Drawing School — Print Making, London
The Heatherley School of Fine Art — Print Making

She has studios inward London as well as Gloucestershire as well as industrial plant to committee - including a serial of icon commissions documenting the making of the Downton Abbey series

Key achievements to date

To appointment she has personally curated as well as held 4 successful solo shows
invited to appear on the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year inward 2013
BP Portrait Award 2018: her portrait for the Cholmondeley children at Houghton Hall was selected for the BP Portrait Award 2018 exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.
She has had extensive press coverage as well as exhibits regularly - as well as has exhibited twice previously amongst the RP

The Prince of Wales's Award for Portrait Drawing (£2,000)

Donated yesteryear the Prince of Wales, this Award supports the importance of skilful grounding inward the skills of drawing from life. This Award is for £2,000 as well as a framed certificate for a portrait inward whatever recognised drawn medium.

The winner of the Prince of Wales Award for Portrait Drawing is Robbie Wraith who has the distinction of having a missive of the alphabet from the Prince of Wales on his website which starts

Robbie Wraith is a remarkable draughtsman.

So it's non also surprising that he's won this award!

Winner of the Prince of Wales's Award for Portrait Drawing
Esther by Robbie Wraith RP
Charcoal 34 x 30cm (13 x 12 inches) POA

Robbie Wraith had had no formal fine art instruction inward fine art schools. Instead he left schoolhouse at 16, as well as went to study inward Italy at the invitation of Pietro Annigoni.

It seems to convey served him good equally he has had a real long listing of distinguished sitters as well as he also has operate inward the collection of HM The Queen equally good equally to a greater extent than than xl pictures inward the private collection of HRH The Prince of Wales, as well as also inward the Royal Collection Windsor, The Vatican, Chatsworth, The National Trust,The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, Oxford as well as Cambridge Universities, Eton College, The MCC, Shell International, Blarney Castle, Fondazione Fremantle Florence, Hoares Bank – as well as many others.

He has also had 30 3 one-man exhibitions inward Britain, Europe, Communist People's Republic of China as well as the USA.

Contemporary Arts Trust Award (£1,000)

This abide by of £1,000 is for the most deserving creative soul inward the exhibition (although I'm non quite certain how they define "most deserving" i.e. of what?)

The Winner of the Contemporary Arts Trust Award is Yun Meng (no website) who is a Chinese artist.

Winner of the Contemporary Arts Trust Award
Preoccupied amongst Something yesteryear Yun Meng
120 x 90cm (48 x 57 inches) £7,600

"Yun Meng's icon revealed a lovely portrait of the dependent area which captured light, feeling as well as natural expression. Moreover, the pare musical note as well as the figures were beautifully painted."Judith Kellerman, Trustee of the Contemporary Arts Trust

The Smallwood Architects Prize (£1,000)

The Smallwood Architects Prize of £1,000, inaugurated inward 2016, is awarded for a portrait inward which architectural or interior features play an of import part.

I'm bemused yesteryear this prize equally it seems to consistently ignore (across exhibitions) those that seem to ameliorate fulfil the brief equally to the criteria for the prize.

Which is non to imply that this is non a skilful icon but that the background is non that much dissimilar that whatever other sitter - whereas other paintings inward the exhibition convey much to a greater extent than interesting "architectural or interior features" including ane hanging side yesteryear side but ane to this portrait.

The winner this yr is David Caldwell RP

Winner of The Smallwood Architects Prize
Joe amongst tattoos yesteryear David Caldwell RP
oil, 152 x 101 cm (60 x xl inches) £2,800

Born 27th Jan 1977 inward Helensburgh, Scotland. Studied fine art at Glasgow School of Art (1994-98), graduating amongst a BA (Hons) Drawing as well as Painting. Followed yesteryear The Prince's Drawing School: The Drawing Year, MA bird diploma (2003-05). Since as well as then he's been an Artist inward Residence at a number of dissimilar places. He typically exhibits inward the exhibitions for fine art competitions as well as fine art societies featured on this blog.

Direct engagement amongst his sitters is a fundamental factor to Caldwell's work. He says

“A portrait is non entirely almost achieving a likeness but also almost capturing the sitter’s private energetic presence”

and

“I desire my paintings to propose the sensation of stereoscopic vision, equally the photographic boob tube camera lens cannot, as well as to amalgamate the layers of looking - indeed the layers of fourth dimension - into ane image. Ultimately I would similar my operate to limited the sensation of having been there, of having stood inward my shoes.”

Exhibition

The Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Artists:

Venue: Mall Galleries - inward all galleries
Dates: Until 24 May 2019
Hours: 10am - 5pm - except opened upwards until 7pm on Tuesday fourteen as well as 21 May

Artist Demonstrations

There are RSPP members demonstrating inward the Mall galleries side yesteryear side calendar week as follows

14 May 2019: David Caldwell RP working inward the gallery
17 May 2019: Andrew James RP NEAC working inward the gallery (demonstrating his portrait drawing techniques)
22 May 2019: Jane Bond RP NEAC working inward the gallery (demonstrating her portrait drawing techniques

In addition, in that location are also three lectures

15 May 2019: David Cobley: All By Himself - David Cobley RP NEAC inward conversation amongst critic as well as fine art historian Peter Davies
18 May 2019: Lillie Langtry, Model as well as Muse - A panel tidings almost G F Watts’ portrait of Lillie Langtry, on loan to the RP Annual Exhibition
21 May 2019: Painting, photography as well as the pursuit of likeness - A conversation betwixt painter Michael Taylor RP as well as lensman Alistair Morrison almost their collaborative project

More almost Past Annual Exhibitions

2019

Call for Entries: Royal Society of Portrait Painters 128th Annual Exhibition (2019)