Congratulations to John Edwards, selected semi-finalist, 2021 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, for his work ‘Self portrait with Ruby Tongue hanging out”.
The judges of the 2021 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize are Emeritus Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia Daniel Thomas AM, prominent Australian artist and 2017 DMNPP winner Tim Storrier AM and Peter Moran, Managing Director, Moran Health Care Group. Doug and Greta Moran AO established the Moran Arts Foundation in 1988.
In announcing the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize Semi Finalists, Tim Storrier AM commented,
“It is quite a challenge to attempt to judge the works of artists from a wide range of backgrounds, ages, and indeed skills, who produce a wildly fluctuating body of work. The Moran Portrait Prize is a public competition and indeed encourages the participation of all – young, old, amateur and professional, and this leads to choosing a small group of portraits of immense diversity…
In trying to identify portraits of quality, there is much more to consider than just ‘likeness of sitter’. One must consider scale, colour, tone, composition, surface and drawing, etc. all of which come into it. In the end, I look for that heightened sense of presence of the figure in space – a penetrating instant that conveys the intense physical and spiritual presence of the sitter – this can be achieved in a good portrait.”
The next level of judging will reduce the number of semi-finalists to thirty, and these will be announced on 1st November. The 2021 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize will be an online exhibition, and the Prize winner will be announced on Friday 30 November, 2021.
Exhibition Dates: 30 Nov – Dec 2021.
Online Exhibition: 2021 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize