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Countdown to the iconic “The Art of The Portrait,” the annual convention celebrated by the Portrait Society of America: the historic institution, dedicated to portraiture and fine art, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
The quarter-century will be celebrated in an exceptional manner and in grand style already starting with the location chosen by the organizers. In fact, The Art of The Portrait will be staged in the capital of the United States of America, Washington, D.C. -in Reston precisely- where participants who have opted for the in-person option will walk through the doors of the Hyatt Regency Reston, May 11-14, 2023.
Parading through the hotel’s spacious halls, covering different topics ranging from drawing to painting and sculpture, some of the most prominent artists in the international portrait and figurative art scene will be on display, including: Burton Silverman, Max Ginsburg, Scott Burdick, Suchitra Bhosle, Jared Brady, Louis Carr, Rick Casali, Rose Frantzen, Jennifer Gennari, Thomas Caleb Goggans, James Gurney, Jeff Hein, Ron Hicks, Quang Ho, Daniel Keys, Celia Liberace, Robert Liberace, Susan Lyon, Kyle Ma, Kevin Macpherson, Dominique Medici, Michael Shane Neal, Mary Qian, Anthony Ryder, Adrienne Stein, Stephanie Thomson, Dawn Whitelaw and Mary Whyte.
In addition to being a meeting place where to compare notes, draw inspiration or “fine tune,” the convention is also the highlight during which the winners of the various competition categories are “physically” awarded: the Members Only Competition, intended only for members of the association; the Future Generation Competition, dedicated to artists between the ages of 18 and 25; and the International Portrait Competition, open to both members and non-members of the association.
While the winners of the Future Generation Competition have already been announced and will officially receive their awards during the gala evening on Saturday, May 13, the same is not true for the twenty finalists of the International Portrait Competition, whose works will be exhibited in the dedicated rooms of the hotel and whose voting will continue until just before the gala evening. Among them will also be proclaimed the Draper Grand Prize winner, who will receive the $50,000 prize won last year by the sublime Luis Alvarez Roure. Finalists in this year’s International Portrait Competition include: Frances Bell, Scott Burdick, Matteo Caloiaro, Rick Casali, Chung-Wei Chien, Joseph Daily, Ruth Fitton, Hiroshi Hayakawa, Ronald Hicks, Fengshi Jin, Pramod Kurlekar, Sean Layh, Jie Liu, Paul Newton, Janvier Rollande, Robert Strickland,
Alex Venezia, Jennifer Welty, and Shane Wolf.
The winners of The Future Generation Competition are, in first place, Jana Buettner with the sculpture “Burden” followed by Phoebe-Louise Steward with Portrait of Hunter Parry; Mikayel Harutyunyan with the work “Hey How Are You?” and Samuel Hoskins with the work titled “In Filth It Is Found.”
Taking advantage of this year’s location, the Portrait Society of America offered attendees the opportunity to participate in two events scheduled for Sunday afternoon: a visit to the National Portrait Gallery- Smithsonian, whose purpose is to tell the story of America by exhibiting portraits of the people who have shaped the nation’s history, development and culture, and a visit to the monumental exhibit “We The People” by artist Mary Whyte. The artist, who will be present at the event, presented at The Army Museum, has created fifty large-format watercolors on each of which depicts a war veteran belonging to the different states that make up the nation.
Opening the dances of the convention, in which hands-on sessions will alternate with discursive sessions, will be the usual exciting FACE-Off: the three-hour event during which eighteen artists will paint, draw and sculpt-simultaneously in groups of three-live models. The final works will later be available for sale through a silent auction, the proceeds of which will benefit the scholarship program offered by the Portrait Society of America. In addition to the FACE-Off there will also be an opportunity to purchase a work from the, “6 x 9: Limited Size, Unlimited Talent – A Mystery Art Sale,” the proceeds of which will be used to implement the services of the Portrait Society of America. One action with a twofold meaning: the opportunity to take home an artist’s original work for personal enjoyment or as a memento of the event, and a means by which to help the association, which is always in the forefront of popularizing and teaching portraiture and figurative art as a tradition.
For the second year in a row, the Portrait Society of America is making available to all those who cannot attend in person the opportunity to attend the event virtually. (For more information you can type on the following link: https://www.portraitsociety.org/2023-virtual-conference ).
For all those who will not be attending or who would like to stay tuned to the piece, Miami Niche will keep you company by offering a detailed glimpse of the convention.
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