In conversation with the Judges of the Portrait Award

Fascinating discussion at the National Portrait Gallery with some of the judges of this years Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award.

The panel included the actor Russell Tovey who described himself as an art geek, Tom Shakespeare disability researcher and sociologist and the founder of the award Tanya Bentley. Bentley guided the discussion as the chair.

They talked about the process of choosing the shortlist picking works from digital submissions and viewing a selected 250 in person in a warehouse to be judged anonymously. They discussed how they had to pick quickly and trust their gut instincts.

They talked with enthusiasm about a selection of work which they had picked including the prize winners.

I learnt a lot about the show, which I had loved, such as the fact that the work had to be on canvas or panel not paper and that this work wasn’t just from the previous year but from 2020 as was the first year the show had returned to the gallery following its refurbishment.

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