The Scottish Arts Trust is celebrating ten years supporting innovation and creativity in the arts in Scotland and beyond. A most inspiring and valuable aspect of their work is the annual Scottish Portrait Awards, across two categories: sponsored by Sutherland Independent, the Fine Art Portrait Awards are for all painting formats, sculpture, collage, printmaking, glass, ceramics, etc. Entries for the MPB Scottish Portrait Award in Photography can be created in colour, black and white or monochrome and printed on any material. In addition, the Scotland Now! Award is for the best photographic portrait taken on a mobile phone.
From the 400 entries for the Fine Art category, a long list was selected, from which 30 finalists have their portraits on display at the Scottish Arts Club, Edinburgh as part of a touring exhibition. The judges looked for diversity, powerful art and strong storytelling, with a broad concept of ‘portraiture’ – self-portraits, one or more people, with animals allowed to be included if secondary to the human subject.
This is an overview of the top Award winners, and other key highlights in the exhibition.
The Young Artist award, to encourage talented 16 – 25 year olds is this year presented to Cara Constable for a portrait of her grandmother, Gran; sitting on a sofa, surrounded by horse chestnut tree leaves, it depicts her gentle, warm smile, photographic detail of clothes, skin and freckled hands.
‘You can see into her soul through those eyes. The face is painted with such fine brush strokes, the hair exquisitely suggested by the lightest of touches.’ – Gordon Mitchell, Chair, Fine Art Judges
Two highly-commended portraits for the Fine Art award deserve to be highlighted here. Halla Groves-Raines selected her father-in-law, Victor, age 78 coping with bereavement, sitting in the floral armchair of his late wife Jane, as he stares into the distance with a forlorn, lost expression.
Grandparents, mothers and fathers have been a popular subject with artists for centuries – Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Dali, Chagall, Cézanne, Hopper, Warhol, Freud, Hockney, et al. Following the tradition, Eileen in the velvet coat is by Eileen’s daughter Sissi O’Neill, which captures her gentle smile, looking relaxed, wearing her favourite jacket.
Mark Mulholland has been shortlisted several times, and won second prize in 2023. This year he is highly-commended for The Strange case of Billy’s Banjo, which features the late artist and playwright, John Byrne. With a drooping cigarette, he is in contemplative mood as he makes final colour adjustments to his painting of Billy Connolly.
The second prize was awarded for Howie by Steven Higginson, selected as an SPA finalist every year from 2017 – 2021, whose distinctive use of light and shadow has won him international acclaim. Originally from Grenada, Howie is a much-admired drummer on the Dundee music scene, and with his jaunty hat, sunglasses and jangle of jewellery, he oozes a larger-than-life personality.
Graeme Wilcox, who has submitted work to the SPA many times, was awarded First Prize for the Sutherland Independent Scottish Portrait Award in Fine Art for D in Stripes: Wilcox says, ‘I’ve painted Daria a few times but usually she appears as a sort of ‘character’, but in this painting I feel it’s much more a portrait of her.’
This is a large-scale, stunning painting with immaculate detail, especially in her hands and feet, which needs to be seen close-up in real life.
Since graduating from the Glasgow School of Art in 1993, Wilcox has been based at WASPS Studios, Glasgow, his recent work depicting figures in spaces and situations which balance a sense of stillness with a sense of movement. ‘The work is exceptionally painted – it conveys a strong sense of identity and personality in the sitter, who is boldly and centrally placed. The judges especially appreciated the skill in the way the folds in the cloth had been handled.’ – Gordon Mitchell
There were around 600 entries for the MPB Scottish Portrait Awards in Photography. The Young Photographer award was presented to Blair Kemp for Johnny’s Animals – Johnny is the handyman at Kemp’s workplace, where he brings in his ferrets, much to the amusement of the customers. ‘The judges really enjoyed its chaotic, bizarre qualities, the red pub, the ferrets, the glass almost tipping over. Great storytelling.’ – Simon Murphy, Chair, Photography panel.
The internationally-renowned photographer Albert Watson OBE personally reviewed every photograph entered for the competition before choosing James Kelman by Chris Close for the SPA Albert Watson Portrait Prize. Kelman won the Booker Prize in 1994 for his stream-of-consciousness novel, How Late it was, How Late, and Close wanted to capture a sense of the dark, inner monologue of its central character.
‘It has a memorable quality, the lighting is strong and considered. Look carefully at the eyes, here is where the story begins… something in the look of the subject but also the clarity of thinking in the photographer.’ – Albert Watson
A couple of outstanding photographs include Phoebe Carter Stewart in her studio by Fergus Devlin. This is a quietly subdued portrait of the young artist, standing at the window, almost in profile, bathed in a soft light which casts a shadowy glow over her self-portrait in the centre. It would have been a very neat double-act if Carter Stewart had entered her portrait for the Fine Art category too.
Andrea Thomson was fortunate to have two photographs shortlisted – Getting Ready (3rd Prize) shows the girls’ anticipation of a fun night out. Also, again focusing on bold colour and glamorous style, is Aisha and her Mama; Aisha won a scholarship to study architecture in Edinburgh and her very proud mother, Rafiat, travelled from Nigeria to attend her daughter’s graduation this summer – such a heart-warming story and a poignant image.
First prize in the MPB Scottish Portrait Awards in colour was awarded to Jennifer Charlton for A Hidden Community – the first female photographer to win the accolade. The location is probably North Berwick, with the swimmer looking directly at the lens, placed in a perfect perspective with the Bass Rock in the background. It’s part of a series Charlton compiled for her BA Hons degree, to illustrate the isolation and stigma of those suffering from mental illness.
Judges were drawn by ‘the peacefulness and the expression on the subject’s face, a sense of depth and mystery – a mellow palette but then the pop of colour from the red hat.’
Chosen from over 1,500 entries, the new Scotland Now! Phone Portrait Award has been won by Ritchie Patton for Trampoline. ‘I’m extremely happy to win the Award. As a photographer it’s always exciting to be recognised by other excellent photographers. The money will aid a trip to take photos on the isle of Skye, possibly travelling in a camper van with my family.’ – Ritchie Patton
All phone photo portraits for Scotland Now! were taken since January 2023 and submitted from across the country to create a contemporary vision of Scotland today. The shortlisted 50 works are presented on-screen as part of the touring Scottish Portrait Awards exhibition, which containues at the Scottish Arts Club, 24 Rutland Square, Edinburgh EH1 2BW, 10:30 to 5pm, closed Sunday and Monday. Access to the Photography exhibition is limited between 12:00 and 2:30pm. Saturday visiting is best from 2:30 to 5pm due to frequent events in exhibition spaces.
For the complete long and short lists of artists and photographers, all the Fine Art and Photography Awards, prize money and full details of the SPA, visit the Scottish Arts Trust website.
Admission to the Scottish Portrait Awards 2024 exhibition is free, running at the Scottish Arts Club in Edinburgh from 7th – 28 Sept, before travelling to Duff House in Banff from 4th Oct – 31st January 2025, then to the Charles Rennie Macintosh Gallery at the Glasgow Art Club, 8th – 27th Feb 2025. Again, full details are available on the SPA website.
With many thanks to Vivien Devlin for this review.
