Art teacher wins portrait prize

Could this be a 'Susan Boyle' moment for the world of art?

I read about this the other day, it's a really nice story, makes a change from the usual winners, there's not a shred of pomp here.

The winner, Peter Monkman's winning piece, Changeling 2, is part of a set of pictures painted of his daughter Anna at varying stages in her life. He won a £25,000 prize along with a tidy £4,000 commission! Not bad for an art teacher from Surrey. The painting is due to go on show at the National Portrait Gallery, London as part of the BP portrait Award exhibition.

"Now in its 30th year, it is one of the most prestigious portrait competitions in the world, and highlights the best in contemporary painting.

It aims to encourage artists to focus upon, and develop, the theme of painted portraiture within their work.

Monkman, who is director of art at Charterhouse School, Surrey, studied visual arts at the University of Lancaster, John Moores University Liverpool and the University of London.

It is the first time his work has been shortlisted for the award.

'Magical quality'

Monkman said: "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 idea for the winning portrait came from photographs of Anna playing in woods in Brittany, France, where the light had a "magical quality".

Chair of the judging panel and National Portrait Gallery director Sandy Nairne said: "This is a superb, magical portrait - a very worthy winner for the BP Portrait Award."

The second prize of £8,000 went to Michael Gaskell, from Sheffield, for a portrait of his son Tom, who was aged 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 said of the work, titled Tom.

The third prize of £6,000 was awarded to Annalisa Avancini, a painter and design teacher from Italy, for her portrait titled Manuel.

Mark Jameson, 29, won the BP Young Artist Award of £5,000 for Benfica Blue - a portrait of his sister, Lyndsey, which he said was unfinished".

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