The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG (1921-2015), who was instrumental in establishing the National Portrait Gallery of Australia. The winner for 2022 is
2020 by Jaq Grantford
Jaq has won the $75,000 Darling Portrait Prize for a self-portrait capturing the Melbourne artist’s ‘mixed feelings’ during pandemic enforced lockdowns.
In making their decision, the judging panel - Karen Quinlan AM, Director of the NPG, together with Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London and Clothilde Bullen, Head of Indigenous Programs at the Art Gallery of Western Australia and Chair of the National Association for the Visual Arts - commented on the incredible amount of detail included in Grantford’s painting.
Judges commended the unusual composition of the self-portrait, and the sensitivity with which it was captured - particularly the intensity of the artist’s direct gaze, and the exacting rendering of the brushes speared through her hair. The judges also noted that the hands covering the mouth reveal a sense of emotional conflict, and could certainly be read as a reference to the recent experiences of mask wearing and so becomes a gentle but clear nod to the global Covid phenomenon.
The Judges also noted the exceptional quality of entries, awarding High Commendations to Hong Fu for his portrait of novelist Alex Miller, and Nicholas Hopwood for his depiction of his daughter Josephine. The People's Choice Award was won by Tony Sowersby for his portrait of Sabine Desrondaux, receiving $10,000 thanks to the generous support of the Liangis family, founding benefactors of the National Portrait Gallery.
