Congratulations to all the award recipients in the 2023 Salon des Refusés.
Thank you also to all the participants in this years exhibition, as well as our judges, sponsors and supporters.
Selected by Beverley Tainton (FRQAS)
Joe Furlonger
by David Paulson
SELECTORS COMMENTS
David Paulson’s portrait of Joe Furlonger is expressive, creative and innovative. A wonderful variety of technical application and colour use – particularly in the placement of whites – make this a commanding composition. For me, the character of Joe Furlonger and his approach to his own art radiates from this portrait.
Selected by Bruce Heiser
Josephine
by Emily Stainer
SELECTORS COMMENTS
Initially I was intrigued by the scale of the work, somehow it appeared to pop out at me from among the works. Once I made my way over to the painting to look at it, I was really quite impressed by the handling of the paint, particularly the modelling of the flesh tones. I thought that aspect of the work was rather good. I also enjoyed the reference to art history. A few years back I’d been fortunate to catch an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London of Elizabethan miniatures which made a tremendous impact on me, so I think my enjoyment and fascination of that show was somehow rekindled when I viewed this work. I know Emily’s work is really quite different, but nonetheless it brought the London show back to mind. Of the works hung, for me it was one of the better paintings in terms of the quality of the draftsmanship and handling of paint. For me, I find the stillness of the work, that quiet, introspective quality really quite appealing too.
Selected by John McDonald
Siena
by Alissa Lamb
SELECTORS COMMENTS
Children are notoriously hard to paint, and not simply because they won’t sit still. Paint an older person and you are striving to capture a lifetime’s experience in a face and form. With a child, that life is yet to be lived. As a result, many children are depicted as small adults, or sentimentally, as impossibly cute dolls. In this picture, Siena -and, I might say, in the companion picture of the sitter’s sister – Alissa Lamb has captured a quirky, theatrical personality that transcends the clichés of childhood. I liked the way Siena’s face subtly echoes the rabbit headgear, and the self-confidence in her expression. Painted with painstaking care, but not redolent of photography, it’s a work that instantly arrests one’s attention.
Highly Commended
Julia Robinson
by Eliza Bertwistle
Selected by John McDonald
Peoples Choice
Unbroken
by James Stickland
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