Selected artists for the John Moores Painting Prize 2023

The selected artists for the John Moores Painting Prize 2023 have now been announced and are as detailed below - name plus title of the artwork plus links to websites or social media sites of some.

The Jury

“It’s a real privilege to have been able to soak up and absorb a snapshot of British painting as part of the jury. It’s so dynamic, exciting, and wrought with a lot of debate and discussion. The anonymity factor allows us to get straight to the factuality of the painting, and being able to see each painting face to face has been a delight.” juror Alexis Harding - first prize winner in 2004

The John Moores Painting Prize 2023 Exhibition opens at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool on Saturday 16 September 2023. 

The first prize winner will receive 

• £25,000 and 
• a solo display at the Walker Art Gallery in 2025.

Always the bridesmaid ...about 3000 enter The John Moore's Painting Prize and about 300 get chosen for stage two, then around 67 make it to the exhibition. Kinda chuffed I got chosen for stage two. Next year I'll smash it Lolly Golding

 

Selected Artists - John Moore Painting Prize 2023 

If your website or Instagram / Facebook can be found in 5 seconds you have a decent chance of getting a link below. If you've also created a decent summary of who you are and what you do, you might just get referenced too. But I don't bother with those not keen on marketing their art or themselves. Plus I'm afraid I don't do guessing games on those who have common names. If you want a link let me know via the post associated with this one on my Facebook Page.

• Dale Adcock - Wall - classic example of somebody who's not looked at the CV on his website in a while
• Tim Allen - Dancing the Future Melting the Past 
• Linda Aloysius - The First Painting in History To Be Recognised By a Public Museum as Painted By a Working-Class Single Mother Artist  
• Tahira Asghar - TAKE IT ALL TAKE IT ALL TAKE IT ALL 
• Nicholas Baldion - Social Murder: Grenfell in Three Parts 
• Mollie Balshaw - My studio is on the bus 

• Ella Belenky - Spell Lulu Bennett - Float 
• Richard Burton - Simulac 
• Danny Cameron - Madonna & Child 
• Deepa Chudasama - Cluster Series with grid 
• Noemi Conan - Sheela Na Gig 
• Daniel Coombs - Woman in the Park 
• Rhys Coren - Slicing Time Differently 
• Mark Corfield-Moore - Sweet Tooth 
• Martyn Cross - The Comin' Through 
• Graham Crowley - Light Industry 
• Richie Culver - Untitled 
• William Drummond - Here's Looking At You - a Petworth based artist with a focus on animals and landscapes. William studied fashion at New York’s FIT before working for a range of designers including Tom Ford, Marchesa and Theory before teaching himself to paint.
• Ryan Durrant - Untitled (HW) 
• Jack Foster - After Fra Angelico 
• Ray Gill - Slide 
• Magdalena Gluszak - Holeksa - Her husband didn't die, he just became beautiful b.1990 in Polnad. Lives in Hertfordshire. Studied MFA Fine Arts at University of the Arts London, Wimbledon College of Art
• Matt Golden - Ladders (Dark Blue) 
• Gina Hammersley - Smile for the Camera 
• Christopher Hanlon - Untitled 
• Christopher Hanson - Ama 
• Dereck Harris - Web Zeal 
• John Wood & Paul Harrison - Not a painting kind of painting 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by John Wood and Paul Harrison (@woodandharrison)

• Harriet Mena Hill - Taplow Shadows: The Aylesbury Fragments 
• Leo Holloway - Untitled 
• Ben Hughes - They'd had ten years to plan their revenge ... 
• Reece Jones - Phantom A and Phantom B - absolutely zero about the artist on his website!
• Betsey Kilpatrick - Love Vortices 
• Helen Kincaid - Stage ll 
• Emily Kraus - Stochastic 14 
• Michael Lacey - I Met A Traveller From An Antique Land 
• Dale Lewis - Garden Party 
• Angela Lizon - Horseman - BA(Hons) in Fine Art; Post-graduate scholarship funded by the Polish government and the British Arts Council for study at Krakow Academy of Fine Art in Poland; Elected Academician at Royal West of England Academy, Bristol; Studio holder at Top Floor Studios, Spike Island, Bristol
• W.K. Lyhne - Stabat Mater 111 
• Henry Miller - Fun Boy Three - Tunnel of Love 
• Chris Milsom - Mirror Mirror 
• Reuben Murray - Ada 
• Richard Phoenix - The Ladder (The Choice) 
• Emma Price - British Values II 
• Yin Yung Sabrina - Pun Emergency Order Convention 1 
• Samantha Rebello - At the King's Table: The Queen's Habit (Blancmange) 
• Phil Redford - Exodus 
• Zachariah Riley - Untitled (Dummies no.3) 
• Emma Roche - Hurl 
• Francisco Rodriguez - The Golden Hour 
• Stevie Ronnie - Thirty Hours or So of Being Awake 
• Michael Samuels - Big Exit 
• Elinor Stanley - Big Babe 
• Amy Steel - Because I Know so Little I Grope for More 
• Alan Stewart - I Hear Them Coming 
• Damian Taylor - Other Light 
• Mimei Thompson - Weeds at the End of the World (Ultramarine, Magenta) 
• Emma Tod - Ludic 
• Francisco Valdes - Champagne Cascade I 
• Covadonga Valdes - Homeland 8 - landscape painter; 1988-92 BA (Hons) Chelsea College of Art, London; 1992-94 MA The Slade University College, London
• Jack Vickridge - Untitled 
• Lorna May Wadsworth - Salvator Mundi 
• Julian Wakelin - LBGE - TBGE 
• Casper White - Saint Michael the Archangel Andrea Della Robia filmed at The Met with pleated kilt by @aria.puga
• John Whitehill - Island Sanctuary 
• Joanna Whittle - Forest Shrine (Witness) 
• Suzy Willey - Just like that!…there! 
• Reed Wilson - Book Stack 
• Tom Woolner - Internal Weather (Idyll)

About the John Moores Painting Prize

The John Moores Painting Prize has awarded more than £685,000 in prize money across 31 exhibitions, which have showcased more than 2,350 works of art. It presents a rich history of post-war painting in Britain. The first exhibition was held only six years after the Walker Art Gallery re-opened following the Second World War.

Previous winners of the John Moores Painting Prize have included artists such as

• 1959: Patrick Heron - "Black Painting - Red, Brown and Olive: July 1959
• 1967: David Hockney - Peter Getting Out of Nick's Pool
• 1972: Euan Uglow - "Nude, 12 vertical positions from the eye"
• 1993: Peter Doig - "Blotter"
• 2014: Rose Wylie - "PV Windows and Floorboards"

See a virtual exhibition of John Moores Painting Prize Exhibition - Winners since 1957

REFERENCE: see my post about Call for Entries: John Moores Painting Prize 2023

The LinkedIn Services Page - for Artists, Art Societies and Art Teachers

I've just created a Linked In Services Page associated with my Linked In Profile. 

• It's not yet finished as I think need to do more 
• plus it could do with a few reviews from people who've experienced my writing, teaching, talks etc

I'm very much still feeling my way around this aspect of LinkedIn and hence this is by far from a comprehensive expert commentary on the topic!

However it got me thinking about how artists can use LinkedIn to develop their career paths and business income.

Why I developed a Service Page on LinkedIn

I have to say

• I'm happy to say I provide services 
• BUT I'm not into aggressive marketing 
• because all current activities must be fitted in around 
• the exercise I need to do on a daily basis to keep the arthritis from getting worse and 
• yet more surgery for those joints which have already failed 
• plus I'm now semi-retired (and 68!) and slowing down following my initial early retirement and heavy duty blogging / website development career about art.

However I'm not averse to taking on clients - both organisations and individuals - with new assignments. (see my Would you like me to help page on Art Business Info for Artists - which explains how it works and provides a form for contacting me)

Katherine Tyrrell - some media examples on my NEW Services Page on Linked In

BELOW I'm going to discuss and comment on

• What is a LinkedIn Service Page? - which is mainly a commentary on me trying to find my way about!
  

PLUS what are the benefits for

• Artists on Linked In
• Art Societies on Linked In
• Art Teachers on Linked In

and later this week I'll highlight MORE about:

• Some Do's and Don'ts about Linked in - or how to make the most of it!

What is a LinkedIn Service Page?

I can do no better at the moment than highlight what the website tells us about the service page. As I said I'm still finding my way around and opening a new tab for each useful looking page and then trying to work out how they relate to one another

This is the link to 

• the Services Page - information
• Create a LinkedIn Page - note it's about a business not a person (it's a bit the same as the way Facebook works)
• Get started as a service provider on LinkedIn

Service providers can create a Service Page on LinkedIn. Service Pages are free dedicated landing pages that showcase services and businesses, and operate on a request and proposal model. Potential clients can contact providers for free, regardless of connection degree.

In general, the steps to work with a service provider on LinkedIn are:

• A potential client searches for a provider on LinkedIn or through the Services Marketplace. When the client clicks on a provider, they're directed to the provider’s Service Page.
• The client submits a project request (request for proposal) to a provider.
• The provider responds with a proposal to express interest in the project. Your response time average from the past 180 days will be displayed on your Service Page if you respond to inquiries within 24 hours, and your response rate average will be displayed if you respond to at least 80% of inquiries.
• Once the client receives a desirable proposal, the client and provider agree on the terms of the project and the provider completes the work.
• Payment for project completion happens through the service provider’s preferred process, outside of LinkedIn.com.
• The provider can invite the client to write a review.

These are links to the tasks involved

• Create a LinkedIn Service Page
• Access your LinkedIn Service Page admin view
• Add media to a LinkedIn Service Page
• Link your Service Page and LinkedIn Page

plus maybe you're in the market for a service from somebody else

• Get started shopping for services on LinkedIn

So this is my LinkedIn Page BEFORE THE SERVICE PAGE

The red line highlights the offer - to showcase services

This is my LinkedIn Page BEFORE THE SERVICE PAGE.

It invites you to click on the link to see the Service Page - however while signed in I can only see the Admin version - and I want to see the version that other people see!

Artists on Linked In

You may be surprised to know that there are lots of artists on Linked In.

Review: Audubon's Birds of America at Compton Varney

Last week I was very pleased to preview the new exhibition of John James Audubon’s ‘Birds of America’ at Compton Verney for two reasons:

• I've always wanted to see "Birds of America" 'for real' as opposed to images online - to see if it is as impressive as it's always appeared to me to be
• I'd never visited Compton Verney before mainly because of the queries about 'so exactly how do I get there?'

The overall exhibition is a critical examination of both the man and his artwork and its historical context.

My conclusion upfront is that this is the sort of exhibition that you might only get to see once in your lifetime. 

It's also a truly monumental book in more ways than one! Not only do you get to see the original hand coloured engravings but you also learn about the man. 

The presentation of both the artwork and associated information and relevant material - letters, books, manuscripts, photography, projections and films - is of a very high quality and my congratulations to those who conceived and created this exhibition.

This is a very impressive exhibition

So be sure to visit if birds and/or the art of natural history interests you. "The art of making money from a big project" is a subsidiary but also very interesting part of the exhibition.

This is therefore.....

A review of the exhibition - focusing on the different aspects I became aware of while visiting and viewing the exhibition

What is 'Birds of America'?

• The book
• The birds
• The artwork
• The exhibition

Who is John James Audubon?

• The man - who is John James Audubon
• The artist as businessman

PLUS the answer to the travel logistics issue!

and an extra exhibition about birds by Quentin Blake

But first.....

What is "Birds of America"? 

I'm going to focus on the first four themes in this section.

The Book

There are only 120 complete copies of "Birds of America" in existence. It is a landmark and truly monumental publication which is now very valuable. Most copies are in national collections or institutions and the rest are owned by very rich people. 

Private copies sell for millions of dollars. Below is the result of the sale of Lord Hesketh's copy in 2010. (Also see Audubon's Birds of America: The world's most expensive book | BBC)

A first-edition print of The Birds of America by ornithologist John James Audubon, was auctioned at Sotheby’s auction house in London, England on December 6, 2010, and sold for a record £7,321,250 ($13.8 million) price tag.

This exhibition is based on an incomplete copy owned by the National Museums Scotland. It's incomplete because the Museum unfortunately let the subscription lapse!

A complete copy includes 435 hand-coloured engravings based on the original watercolour paintings created by John James Audubon.

The Birds

Audubon aimed to paint every bird in America. Whether he achieved this or not depends on what is known about all the birds in America in the early 1800s when he was researching and painting.

At the time he managed to paint and produce engraved and hand-coloured prints for 435 different birds. There may have been more but his original watercolours have disappeared as have all but some 70 odd of the engraving plates.

What we do know is that some of the birds he painted are now extinct.

The Exhibition

Review: Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Annual Exhibition 2023

Last week I visited the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers (RMS) at what looks like becoming their NEW home at the Bankside Gallery on the South bank of the Thames - next to Tate Modern.

RMS Display Cabinets at the Bankside Gallery

Reasons for the move to the Bankside Gallery are at the end. I'd suggest they are worth noting by any other art societies who've previously hired the Mall Galleries for their exhibitions.

For those not familiar with miniature art Anthony Lester provides a good explanation

With a maximum size of 6 x 4 inches (15.24 x 10.16 cm), the painting of miniatures demands self-discipline, for where large pictures give some latitude in composition, miniatures are unforgiving of the least mistake; a tolerance of even a millimetre is hardly permitted. Apart from their quality and beauty, they have much appeal because of their size and, with stunning works available from a few hundred pounds, affordability is an enticement too.

More helpful information and tips are provided on the RMS website 

 

RMS Annual Exhibition

The exhibition is open daily from 11-6pm until 6pm on Saturday 8th July. 

Entry is free and the essential exhibition catalogue is £3.

Nearest tubes and rail stations are at Blackfriars Railway and Tube Station and St Paul's (across the Millenium Bridge)

The RMS Annual Exhibition at the Bankside Gallery

I have to say I think the Bankside Gallery suits the RMS annual exhibition very well.  

• There is ample space for all the cabinets which display the miniatures so very well. 
• The Gallery's own sketchbook display cabinets could also be used for excellent displays of the miniature sculpture. 
• The lighting is very good - plus there is of course lots of clerestory lighting which also improves the look of the exhibition. (The North Galleries at the Mall have become rather cave-like and claustrophobic of late with only a tiny chink of natural light following "improvements" compared to the previous incarnation)

View as you enter the Gallery

Overall, initial impressions were good and the artwork all looked excellent on display. I gather the consensus at the Private View (which I missed due to being at a Press View at Compton Varney - of which more tomorrow) was that there were lots of excellent reasons to make this the Society's "new home" and I have to concur that seems like a very sensible decision.

Hopefully, next year they'll be back at the Bankside Gallery - but maybe not so close to the Annual Exhibition of the Hilliard Society which always takes place in June in Wells, in Somerset. These are the two premier miniature exhibitions in the UK and it would be great to get a bit more space between their exhibition dates. I hope some suitable arrangement can be negotiated with the Bankside Gallery

The last annual exhibition I saw in person was in 2019 - after which there were dislocations due to the pandemic and issues with exhibiting at the Mall Galleries.

To me, the standard of artwork seems to be:

• as good as ever in terms of the quality of the artwork on display, much of which is excellent
• still leaning more towards what I'd call "traditional" subject matter. I liked those that were 'very traditional' and more contemporary.

Sales and Commissions

Filming Landscape Artist of the Year in June 2023

Some of you will recall that back in May, I did a post about Landscape Artist of the Year Filming 2023: Venues, Dates and Wildcards. 

Last month, Storyvault Films were out and about with the Pods around the country filming the next series which will be broadcast in early 2024. 

The three venues for filming the six episodes this summer were:

• Liverpool
• Hever Castle in Kent
• Stonehaven on the Aberdeenshire coast in Scotland. 
  

It was really nice to see lots of pics of proper landscapes - both urban and rural - and no country houses or "novel" (I'm being polite) locations!

Lots of excellent photos of the filming of painting Dunnottar Castle
by Julie Mary Lawler who lives in Stonehaven

After the filming has taken place I go looking for evidence it happened on social media!

You can watch the Semi Final at Buckler's Hard, Hampshire on 12th July 2023. More details at the end.

Location: Liverpool

DATES: Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th June 2023

Liverpool - Pier Head

A post by the Liverpool Film Office about the filmining of the episode based at the Pier Head. As predicted the Liver Building was prominent in view!

Liverpool - Albert Docks

First a post by the Albert Docks FB Page

Then a post by a participant

Plus a post by a visitor to the Albert Docks!

Location: Hever Castle in Kent

DATES: Tuesday 20th June and Wednesday 21st June 2023.

First a post by Hever Castle. Looks like I guessed right about one of the locations.

 

Plus a post by a participant - Susan Schramm (lots of photos of all the wildcard artists)

 

 and Ian Head also posted - I'm not sure if he was an artist or just watched

 

Location: Stonehaven in Scotland 

Stonehaven - The Harbour

A couple of posts by the Danielle Graham, an Executive Producer for Storyvault Films who make Landscape Artist of the Year