EXHIBITION: Portrait Artist of the Year (2013 - 2021)

A new commemorative exhibition of portraits generated by eight series of "Portrait Artist of the Year" is to be held at Compton Verney Art Gallery - between 19 February – 5 June 2022.

Key features are that it:

• Celebrates eight years of Sky Arts’ most successful TV series, Portrait Artist of the Year starting in 2012 (for the 2013 series) through to the 2021 series 
• Is curated by one of the programme’s judges, independent curator Kathleen Soriano. 

Alastair Faulkner, Self Portrait in Green Scrubs, 2017
© Alastair Faulkner

• Features over 120 works, selected from the work of more than 1,000 artists who have taken part in the competition and associated Sky Arts TV programme since it was launched in 2013.  A number of the artists - from diverse backgrounds and have gone on to establish successful careers in art and/or portraiture.  Others have been established artists who risked their reputations on how well they did in the competition!

Self Portrait: The Wreck by Shanti Panchal

• Showcases the sheer diversity of the different styles, media and approaches taken to portraiture by artists participating in the very popular art competition
• Displays the work of all past winners as well as well as highlighting their subsequent prize commissions painted by the competition winners for major museums and galleries including the National Gallery of Ireland, the British Library and the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. These include the portraits of 
• actors Kim Cattrall and Imelda Staunton, 
• musicians Sir Tom Jones and Nile Rodgers, 
• writers Dame Hilary Mantel and Lemn Sissay, 
• broadcasting legends Lord Melvyn Bragg and Graham Norton.
• Highlights the power of art, not least of all for its ability to inspire both a sense of community and creativity during lockdown, especially in relation to supporting mental health and wellbeing. The international community of artists that developed as a direct consequence of the live-streamed Portrait Artist of the Week series on Facebook Live and Sky Arts, a direct response to initial pandemic lockdowns in early 2020, has been testament to the value and importance of bringing people together in a shared and creative experience.

The exhibition ticket will be released soon - on this page 

Where is Compton Verney?

The address is Compton Verney, Warwickshire, CV35 9HZ - east of Stratford upon Avon and south of Leamington Spa

The House also houses a number of collections including a sizeable collection of British Portraits. Definitely worth a trip for those that can get to this location without difficulty.

Opening times are:

• Tue – Sun, 10am-5pm
• Mon – Closed, except bank holidays.