The winners have been announced of the Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize 2022 at a prize-giving ceremony in the National Gallery of Ireland.
Dubliner David Booth, from Dublin won the NGI's Zurich Portrait Prize for his work Salvatore, a portrait in oil on board of artist Salvatore of Lucan - Salvatore, the subject of the portrait, was himself the winner of the Zurich Portrait Prize 2021.
(Pics: Abe Neihum)
As well as a prize of €15,000, David will receive a commission worth €5,000 to produce a new work for the National Portrait Collection.
Cara Rose and Gavin Leane, both from Dublin, received highly commended prizes to the sum of €1,500 for their respective portraits, Double Self Portrait and Several Days Hence.
David Booth, on his winning portrait Salvatore, said, "The portrait is of fellow artist and friend Salvatore. I spotted Sal one morning while in the studio. He was suited in a brilliant red Adidas one-piece tracksuit, his hair jet-black, and his pointed features solemn and reflective. I sat Sal down and took his picture. The life of an artist is characterised by intense ambitions and doubts. With this portrait I wanted to convey this, and the way in which Sal is resting into contemplation."
The winners were also announced for the Zurich Young Portrait Prize 2022, with New Beginning, a painting on canvas by 13-year-old Meilin Ava Song, selected as the overall winner, with additional prizes in each category (ages 6 and under, ages 7-11, ages 12-15, ages 16-18) awarded to Pierre Gaultier Swords, aged 5, with Self-Portrait of Pierre, Haochen Gao, age 11, with I Like Balls, Viktoria Kroejeva, age 15, with Day Out, and Ross McHale, age 17, with A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Each category winner is awarded a personalised box of art materials alongside a prize of €250.
Brendan Rooney, Head Curator, National Gallery of Ireland, said, "Now in its ninth consecutive year, the Portrait Prize continues to celebrate the talent that flourishes among artists working in Ireland and Irish artists abroad. These works were shortlisted from hundreds of submissions, as high in quality as they were disparate in character. As we emerge from two years of pandemic, portraiture helps to remind us of the fundamental importance of human interaction and engagement."
The Zurich Portrait Prize exhibition, featuring the winning portrait alongside 25 other shortlisted works, is now open at the National Gallery of Ireland. It will run until 2 April 2023 alongside the Zurich Young Portrait Prize exhibition of 20 shortlisted portraits. Both exhibitions will travel to the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, in 2023 - find out more here.
