Three artists based in Louth and Meath have been shortlisted for the prestigious Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize competition run by the National Gallery of Ireland.
Solomon Doyle who lives in Ardee was shortlisted for the Zurich Young Portrait Prize for his “Portrait of an Artist: A Reflection of His Ensuing Self, oil, acrylic and gold pen on canvas.
Also shortlisted in the Zurich Young Portrait Prize was Jasmine Jaiyeola from Navan for her pencil and watercolour on paper portrait entitled “My Beautiful Mom.”
Adrian Wojtas grew up in Navan but now lives and works between Paris and Dublin was shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Prize.
Selected from the hundreds of entries from artists throughout the country, all three are among the 26 artists, working across a variety of media, to have made it through to the final stage of the Zurich Portrait Prize, while 20 young artists aged between four and eighteen years old have been shortlisted for the Zurich Young Portrait Prize.
The Zurich Portrait Prize shortlist includes painting, sculpture and photography, demonstrating the breadth of contemporary Irish art.
The winner of the Zurich Portrait Prize will receive a cash prize of €15,000 and will be commissioned to create a work for the national portrait collection, for which they will be awarded a further €5,000.
Two additional awards of €1,500 will be given to highly commended works. Judges for the Zurich Portrait Prize are Dorothy Cross RHA, artist, Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, and Anne Stewart, Senior Curator of Art, National Museums Northern Ireland.
The Zurich Young Portrait Prize returns for its fifth year in 2023 as a showcase for the artistic talent of young people from across the island of Ireland. Five winners (one from each respective age category and an overall winner) will be selected from a shortlist of hundreds of entries from young people aged four to 18.
Winners will receive a bespoke art box and a cash prize. The overall competition winner will be awarded a personalised wooden box of high-quality art materials and a cash prize of €500.
All twenty shortlisted entrants will have their artwork professionally framed/prepared. This year’s Zurich Young Portrait Prize judges are: Jessica O’Donnell, Head of Education and Community Outreach, Hugh Lane Gallery, Ola Majekodunmi, writer, broadcaster and producer, and Tom McLean, visual artist and curator.
Exhibitions of the shortlisted works in both competitions run at the National Gallery of Ireland from 2 December 2023 and 10 March 2024.
Dr Caroline Campbell, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, said, “With the annual Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize, our aim is to showcase the work of Irish artists and encourage an interest in contemporary Irish portraiture. Each year, the artists shortlisted demonstrate an incredible breadth of Irish artistic talent. We’re proud to partner with Zurich Insurance plc once again this year and we look forward to seeing who and what has inspired artists of all ages to create portraits in 2023.”
Neil Freshwater, CEO of Zurich, said, “The Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize showcases the wonderful creativity and expertise of Ireland’s portrait artists of all ages. We are delighted to see such a strong and diverse selection of artworks in this year’s shortlists and very proud to sponsor these uplifting competitions.”
Find out more at www.nationalgallery.ie
