City artist wins top award

John Pace ‘gobsmacked’ after R100 000 portrait prize

CAPE Town artist John Pace said he was “completely gobsmacked” when on Thursday it was announced he was the winner of the 2015 Sanlam Portrait Award, which includes a prize of R100 000.

Pace’s oil on canvas portrait After the Game beat 809 entries to claim the top spot.

It depicts his 12-year-old son Jack, a student at Western Province Preparatory School, after a wet and muddy Saturday morning rugby match against SACS.

Pace runs his own design practice in Cape Town, and has to find time to paint at weekends.

It took him about three-and-a-half months to paint the portrait of his son.

He was initially unsure whether he should enter it into the competition, and decided to do so only after his wife Sue convinced him to give it a go.

The winner was announced at a ceremony at the at the Rust-en-Vrede Art Gallery in Durbanville on Thursday, where the top entries were on display. Pace was thrilled when he was informed his portrait was in the top 40.When he received a phone call from the competition’s organisers to inquire whether he would attend the awards, he paid it no special attention as he assumed many artists would be invited. “I didn’t have great expectations when I went to the event,” said Pace. “When I entered the gallery I saw four or five that I thought were astonishingly good.” When it was announced his portrait had won, he was at a loss for words.

“I put my hands to my face, I didn’t know what to say. I had absolutely no idea I would win.”

Pace said he would use the R100 000 to buy Jack a cello, and take his family on holiday.

Launched in 2013, the Sanlam Portrait award is awarded every two years and aims to showcase the best original portrait artwork in the country. The first winner was KwaZulu- Natal artist Heather Gourlay-Conyngham.

This year’s judges were Tanya Poole, an artist and lecturer at Rhodes University, Craig Wylie, Britain’s BP Portrait Award winner from 2008, and Ernestine White, curator for Contemporary Art at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town.

Hamlin Jansen van Vuuren, curator at the Rust-and-Vrede gallery, said she was “overwhelmed with the quality of work and the sheer range of skills displayed”.

● The top 40 portraits, including Pace’s work, are on display at the gallery until October 8. Entry is free.

PICTURE: SUPPLIED FIRST PLACE: John Pace with his award-winning portrait titled After the Match.