Yealands portrait in running for national award
After reading a book about entrepreneur Peter Yealands, Nelson artist Bill Burke knew he wanted to paint him.
But it took a little convincing for the Marlborough identity to have his portrait painted. Yealands finally agreed, and now the portrait has been selected as a finalist in the prestigious 2022 Adam Portraiture Award.
Burke is one of three Nelsonians among the 45 artists whose works have been chosen as finalists for the biennial award, after being whittled down from 351 entries.
The Adam Portraiture Award is one of the country’s longest-running art awards, with a cash prize of $20,000. It is the fourth time Burke has been selected as a finalist.
He said that after reading Blenheim writer Tom Percy’s book A Bloke For All Seasons: The Peter Yealands Story, he knew that the entrepreneur was the person he wanted to paint.
Yealands was known for his imagination, energy and passion, which had propelled him through an incredible career across the marine, forestry and viticulture industries, Burke said.
Yealands’ daughter, who Burke knew, took him to see Yealands at his Marlborough farm. While he was showing Burke around the farm, he sat down with his dog, and Burke took some photos. He later painted the oil on canvas portrait Marlborough Man, Peter Yealands from those images over several months.
Burke said he had portrayed Yealands as the ‘‘unpretentious, comfortable in his own skin, downto-earth legend that he is’’.
He said there was a high calibre of work among the Adam Portraiture Award finalists, and while it would be a thrill to win the award, he was just as pleased to have his work chosen as a finalist.
Painting portraits was a personal challenge, he said, as it took skill to get a portrait to look like the subject.
‘‘It is nice to capture a person, whether it’s in pencil or oil.’’
The other Nelson finalists are Lisa DeVries with her oil on canvas work Tyler –In The Shadows, and Ashton Wastney, who is currently living in Australia, with the oil on linen work Fig. 39.
Anyone can apply to enter the Adam Portraiture Award, as long as the artist and subject are New Zealand residents or citizens.
The winner will be announced on May 26, with the finalists’ work showcased at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata in Wellington from May 27 to August 14, after which a selection will be toured nationally.
‘‘(An) unpretentious, comfortable in his own skin, down-toearth legend.’’