I’m over the moon and so grateful to make it to the semi finalists for the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 2019. What an honour to be selected amongst this fine bunch of Australian talent. The judges of the 2019 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize are artist and 2013 DMNPP winner Nigel Milsom, Director of the Ian Potter Museum of Art at the University of Melbourne, Kelly Gellatly, and Peter Moran, Managing Director of the Moran Health Care Group. Peter’s parents Greta and Doug Moran established the Moran Arts Foundation in 1988. (See Judges comments below).
Judge Nigel Misom: “If portraiture is one of the means used to communicate our individuality, connection to each other, and the world around us, look no further than the 2019 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize Semi-Finalists. The variety and scope of the selected portraits are vast, yet they all seem to share a commonality, that is, the painter and subject have united to share in the ‘magic’ of creativity.”
Judge Kelly Gellatly: “While the sheer volume of entries to this year’s Doug Moran Portrait Prize was initially overwhelming, it was a privilege to experience such a breadth of contemporary portraiture and to be able to get a glimpse into how some of Australia’s most talented artists are currently exploring, and pushing, the genre. For the judges, the shortlisted artists collectively demonstrate the way in which portraiture can and should be much more than the sheer skill of capturing of a likeness. The power of portraiture instead manifests from the almost intangible coming together of artist and subject; a tension or ‘rub’ that encourages the viewer to remain with a work and to return to it time and again, well beyond the initial moment of recognising the subject.”
The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize…
Founded by Doug & Greta Moran and family in 1988, the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (DMNPP) is an annual Australian portrait painting prize supporting Australian artists. The prize has encouraged both excellence and creativity in contemporary Australian portraiture by asking artists to interpret the look and personality of a chosen sitter, either unknown or well known. With a first prize of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) it is Australia’s richest art prize.
Finalists announced - 16 Oct
