£30,000 prize for mother portrait
A PORTRAIT of a woman breastfeeding her eightmonth-old baby has won the 2017 BP Portrait Award.
Benjamin Sullivan, 40, was awarded the £30,000 first prize for Breech!, which depicts his wife Virginia nursing their daughter Edith.
The judges said they were struck by the tenderness and intimacy of Sullivan’s composition, evoking Madonna and Child paintings through the ages and the depth of the maternal bond.
Broadcaster Kirsty Wark, who helped judge the award, said: ‘The woman is tired. She is in love. Her life has changed forever. We know her.’
Sullivan, who is based in Suffolk and came third last year, painted his work over four to five weeks ‘when Edith’s cooperation was forthcoming’, said the National Portrait Gallery, which organises the competition. It depicts ‘a sense of calm’ that descended after the anxious time the parents faced during Edith’s birth.
Sullivan has been shortlisted a record 13 times for the gallery’s portrait prize exhibition, a record for any artist. His win was announced by presenter Mariella Frostrup at a ceremony last night.
Dr Nicholas Cullinan, chairman of the judges and director of the gallery, said: ‘The competition, recognised as the most prestigious in the field of portrait painting in the world, continues to attract the best practitioners of the genre.
‘This year is no exception, and I hope visitors will enjoy the diverse range of styles and sitters in the exhibition.’
The winning portrait was selected from 2,580 entries from 87 countries.
Second prize of £10,000, went to French painter and illustrator Thomas Ehretsmann, for Double Portrait, depicting his pregnant wife Caroline. Third prize went to Antony Williams for Emma, his portrait of model turned friend Emma Bruce.
The BP Young Artist Award was won by 26-year-old Henry Christian-Slane for a portrait of his partner