Fifty eight selected works hang in the National Portrait Gallery as part of the 2010 Portrait awards. The worlds most prestigious portrait competition, it promotes the very best in contemporary portrait painting. A lot of people have started to expect these awards, but any doubting aside the standard of skill is near impossible to fault. For in each composition and sitter the artist has found something intriguing to present and there is a certain sense of something captivating in each of the 58. The winning portrait is Daphne Todds the 'Last Portrait of Mother', Todd painted her mother Annie Mary Todds on her death bed, just after she had reached her 100th birthday. In a competition to this standard where the winning prize is £25,000 the winners and winner are going to be questionable. Perhaps this years winner was significant in seeming to move away from the traditional static association between the painter and the sitter, Todds exploration of a invasive and contemporary theme was a far move easily associated with the contemporary notion of 'art' in 2010. However, the idea that there is anything less exciting or fulfilling than great painting is sadly mistaken. Until September at the Nation Portrait Gallery, London.
by Katriona Flynn
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