Adam Portraiture award 2010

Adam Portraiture award 2010 

Adam Portraiture Award Exhibition

The Adam Portraiture Award promotes the best of contemporary portrait painting from artists from throughout New Zealand.

Hastings City Art Gallery is pleased to present a selection of this year's finalists from the Adam Portraiture Awards. Sponsored by the Adam Foundation and presented by the Portrait Gallery of New Zealand in Wellington, this biennial award showcases a fascinating collection of portraits, painting styles, artists and sitters.

"Portraiture is not only an important art form but also provides a pictorial record for future generations.  My wife Verna and i hope the Adam Portraiture Award will stimulate talented artists in New Zealand to contribute to our artistic and historical treasure trove" says Denis Adam, Patron of the Adam Portraiture Award.

The overall winner of the Adam Award was Harriet Bright for her portrait 'Kayte', of a Kapiti Coast blues singer reclining naked in a chair (pictured).  She won the national award and the $15,000 prize, and the work will become the property of the National Portrait Gallery.

The competition received a record number of entries, with more than 300 portrait artists entering a new work in the competition.  Judge Andrew Sayers, director of the Australian National Portrait Gallery, chose 93 competitors based on photo's of the images.  He was not told the names of the artists and the subjects so the selection was based on artisic merit alone.

This year saw an innovation with the introduction of a popular choice award.  Gallery visitors had the opportunity to vote for their favourite portrait with this year's award going to Auckland artist, Mark Rutledge for his close up portraint of Ray Columbus.