agnesnot the sort of thing i usu­ally cover here, but i recently made the acquain­tance of natalie hol­land — russ­ian born painter, who lived for many years in nor­way, and has recently set­tled in the uk. her por­trait of the daugh­ter of a friend; agnes was selected for the 2009 bp por­trait award (details below). the first prize in the com­pe­ti­tion was awarded  to peter monkman for changeling , part of a series of por­traits of his daugh­ter, anna, at dif­fer­ent stages of her life.L0562
the por­trait award, now in its thir­ti­eth year at the national por­trait gallery and twen­ti­eth year of spon­sor­ship by bp, is the most pres­ti­gious por­trait com­pe­ti­tion in the world, high­light­ing the very best in con­tem­po­rary por­trait paint­ing. the com­pe­ti­tion and result­ing exhi­bi­tion aim to encour­age artists to focus upon and develop the theme of por­trai­ture in their work.U0412
the exhi­bi­tion will be at the national por­trait gallery from 18 June – 20 sep­tem­ber 2009; it will then go on tour where it will be shown at the southamp­ton city art gallery from 28 Sep­tem­ber – 31 Novem­ber 2009, and at the dean gallery, edin­burgh, from 12 decem­ber 2009 – 21 feb­ru­ary 2010.home_image_large

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