2000 submissions for the Self-Portrait Prize 2023
Winner to be announced on 23 June by Maggi Hambling
Works by internationally renowned artists such as Chila Burman, Colin Davidson and Jonathan Yeo rub shoulders with those by people starting their careers or for whom art is not their profession in the 50-exhibit shortlist for the Self-Portrait Prize 2023.
The Prize (established 2011) is the only art competition of its kind to focus exclusively on self- portraiture, and was inspired by Ruth Burchard, who between 1958 and 1971 created one of the only UK public collections dedicated exclusively to self-portraiture. *
The 2023 Prize’s judging panel includes eminent members of the art world: Director of the National Gallery, Dr Gabriele Finaldi; Financial Times columnist Melanie Gerlis; former Director of the British Council, Andrea Rose; Principal Manager of The Atkinson Stephen Whittle; the 2021 Prize Winner Lucy Jones; and Ruth Borchard’s grandson David Borchard.
The judges will meet on Friday 19 May to select the winner of the £10,000 prize.
Speaking on behalf of the Judges, following the initial selection process, Andrea Rose said:
‘What an amazing insight into how people see themselves. From mothers struggling to work with young children, to the effects of the pandemic, to people simply questioning who they really are. The works come from across the world, with artists letting us into some of their most intimate feelings. Here is a global community similarly concerned with themes such as ageing, identity, anxiety, all interspersed with bursts of spontaneity and recognition.’
The Self-Portrait Prize is the only art competition of its kind to focus exclusively on self-portraiture. It is managed by the Ruth Borchard Collection and Piano Nobile. It was established in 2011. The Prize has previously been held at Piano Nobile’s gallery at Kings Place, London. It is open to artists of all ages and abilities, and submitted self-portraits can be in any medium. Previous prize winners include Celia Paul (2011), David Dawson (2019) and Lucy Jones (2021). Previous entrants include Maggi Hambling (2011), Tracey Emin (2013) and Jonathan Yeo (2019).
*The Ruth Borchard Collection was the life-long project of writer Ruth Borchard (1910-2000). Born near Hamburg in 1910, the writer Ruth Borchard came as a German-Jewish refugee to Britain in 1938. As ‘an enemy alien’ in wartime she was imprisoned first in Holloway Prison, then interned on the Isle of Man in 1940. In 1958 she refashioned a pre-war German diary to note names of British-based artists she intended to contact to create a collection of modern self-portraits. Between then and 1971 she collected 100 such works (setting a limit of 21 guineas for each picture) – from well known-artists such as Michael Ayrton, Anne Redpath, Euan Uglow, Ithell Colquhoun. and Keith Vaughan.
It is one of the only UK public collections dedicated exclusively to self-portraiture. It holds a variety of historically important twentieth-century British art with examples of movements and styles including the Camden Town Group, the Euston Road School, Kitchen Sink realism and Art Brut. The full collection can be viewed on the Art UK website and at www.ruthborchard.org.uk
The Ruth Borchard Collection and The Self-Portrait Prize are managed by Piano Nobile, a commercial art gallery in London specialising in twentieth-century British art. Recent exhibitions have focused on Ben Nicholson, Walter Sickert and Frank Auerbach. The gallery has established a reputation for authoritative exhibitions and publications under the gallery’s imprint, Piano Nobile Publications. Piano Nobile, 96/129 Portland Road, Holland Park, London W11 4LW. www.piano-nobile.com
Posted on 12 May 2023 under Exhibition, General news
