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| Graeme Drendel with his portrait of fellow portrait painter Lewis Miller |
Graeme Drendel
has won Australia’s richest portrait prize, the $150,000 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 2022 (DMNPP), for his painting of fellow artist Lewis Miller.
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Portrait of Lewis Miller by Graeme Drendel |
It’s not all about the size – because this is not a large painting – in very stark contrast to the winner in 2017 (see Tim Storrier wins richest portrait prize in the world) when the winning portrait was 2 metres high!
You can read more about the background to the prize and its history below
Doug Moran Portrait Prize 2022
The prize encourages both excellence and creativity in contemporary Australian portraiture by asking artists to interpret the look and personality of a chosen sitter, either unknown or well known.
This is the web page about the Doug Moran Portrait Prize 2022. There is no physical exhibition this year.
The Winner
Graeme Drendel’s artwork is strongly figurative (and allegorical?) – although not hyperrealistic – and often includes figures in the Australian landscape in his work. I recognised allusions to paintings by famous painters in art history. He works in oil, gouache and watercolour.
His subjects are figures of solitude and introspection, even when depicted in groups or clusters. Their expression and attire are suggestive of larger obscured narratives, left to the viewer to decipher.
He was born in Victoria in 1953 and, since 1990, he has held thirty solo exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra. He is represented in many public and private collections throughout Australia.
He was a finalist in the Archibald Prize for Portraiture in 2018.
The Finalists
- name of the artist
- title of the entry
- Sitter’s name(s)
The finalists are a mix of well known artists and emerging artists. I recognised a number of the names from my previous coverage of Australian portrait prizes.
NEW SOUTH WALES
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Tony Albert & Vincent Namatjira
Blackfella bananas | Tony Albert & Vincent Namatjira -
Michael Bell Starting a portrait of Mark Mordue. | Mark
Mordue - Jackson Davies Kings Cross studio 2022 | Chris Field
- Steve Lopes Warren Ellis, portrait study | Warren Ellis
- Susan Ma Determination | Ron Ramsey
- Kathleen Mason The war widow | Katie Norton
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Neil Miley Concept, action, critique Evert Ploeg | Evert
Ploeg - Kirsty Neilson A decade in Afghanistan | Andrew Quilty
- Liam Nunan Self portrait | Liam Nunan
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Lucy O’Doherty Self portrait in pink room | Lucy
O’Doherty - Amanda Penrose Hart Reg | Reg Mombassa
- Dee Smart Navigating a new world | Kim Leutwyler
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Madeleine Winch Soliloquy | Madeleine Winch (self
portrait)
QUEENSLAND
- David Fenoglio Self portait wearing hat | David Fenoglio
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Naomi White Keeping us healthy through science |
Professor Ian Frazer AC
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
- Joshua Miels Downhearted | Alex Howard
- Tim O’Shea John Brewster – The Angels | John Brewster
- Datsun Tran Scars of an artist | Datsun Tran
VICTORIA
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Daniel Butterworth My own worst enemy | Daniel
Butterworth -
Graeme Drendel Portrait of Lewis Miller | Lewis
Miller -
Vivien Gaston Maudie: Portrait of Maudie Palmer | Maudie
Palmer AO - Jaq Grantford Bald | Jaq Grantford
- Terry Matassoni Portrait of Jan Senbergs | Jan Senbergs
- Lewis Miller Graeme Drendel | Graeme Drendel
- Simon Schneider Obsession | Mervyn Schneider
- Liz Sullivan Sweetness and sardines | Annie O’Shannessy
- Debra Winn David | David McAllister AC
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
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Owen John Biljabu Corban Clause Williams | Corban Clause
Williams -
Rachel Coad The imaginative historian, self portrait |
Rachel Coad - Sarah McBride Shiny | Simon Page aka Shiny
Judges
The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize judges original artworks from
Australian artists, capturing Australians from all walks of life,
whether a public figure or someone from the artist’s circle of
experience. Works are painted at least partly from life with the
sitter known to the artist and aware of the artist’s intention to
enter the Prize.
About the Doug Moran Portrait Prize
I’ve always been intrigued by the fact that some of the most valuable portrait painting prizes are available only to Australians!
Doug and Greta Moran AO established the Moran Arts Foundation in 1988 – as a celebration of Australia’s bicentennial – to fulfill their dream of helping Australian artists along the path to excellence.
The Moran Arts Foundation is a philanthropic, not-for-profit organisation whose objective is to support the arts in Australia. Best known for the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and the development of portraiture skills among Australian artists, the Foundation also fosters excellence in photography
- The AUS $150,000 Prize currently equates to $102,000 (US) / £83,000 / €97,000.
- The prize is acquisitive and the winning portrait immediately becomes the property of the Moran Arts Foundation, to be exhibited permanently as part of the Moran Arts Foundation Collection
- However as previously indicated, don’t get too excited if you’re not Australian as you’re not eligible!
The competition is open to Australian citizens or residents of at least 12 months
In terms of submission, it bears a lot of similarity to the BP Portrait Prize – except that there is a much wider choice of eligible art media.
- Artists are asked to interpret the look and personality of a chosen sitter, either unknown or well known from any walk of Australian life.
- Your sitter should be or should have been aware of your intent to enter their portrait in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize.
- Entries must be original works painted in oil, acrylic, watercolour, ink, pastel, egg tempera or mixed media.
Previous Blog Posts
I thought I’d covered this prize more than once – but can only find one post
