Derwent team alongside visual arts consultancy Parker Harris, were delighted to host the Private View of the Derwent Art Prize at Gallery@Oxo, OXO Tower London on the 3 April 2024. With 68 shortlisted artworks on display, the event celebrated the very best artworks created using pencil and two of our prestigious judging panel announced the five overall prize winners on the night.
The Derwent Art Prize is a global art competition and exhibition for artists, beginning in 2012. The event celebrates and rewards contemporary pencil art, where any pencil brand or type can be used including the use of colour, water-soluble, pastel, graphite and charcoal mediums.
“The Derwent Art prize is such a special exhibition, and it’s recognised in the art industry as one of the most important awards for pencil art worldwide. the Derwent Art Prize supports artists of all age, from our First Prize winner, June, who is in her 80s, to the Young Artist Prizes, which support creatives under the age of 25.” Said Parker Harris, Visual Arts Consultancy. “Receiving an award such as this can be affirming, life-changing and career-defining for these artists. But the Derwent Art Prize is so much more than that. It’s a celebration of creativity in pencil – and everyone can join in! From young people to educated art lovers, from charities to gallery goers, the exhibition and live demonstrations at gallery@oxo attracts hundreds of visitors. We’re really proud to look after this project, and we look forward to the next edition.”
This year over 6,000 artwork entries were submitted from 2,324 artists in 77 countries. The wonderfully talented judging panel for 2024, consisting of Curtis Holder (Artist & Derwent Ambassador), Helen Waters (Curator & Director, Cristea Roberts Gallery), Valerie Sonnier (Artist & Professor, Ecole des Beaux-Arts Paris) and Sergio Gomez (Artist & Curator), selected the 68 shortlisted artworks, to be displayed at the exhibition.
The winners of Derwent Art Prize 2024 are:
First Prize: June Collier – Hetty in Hospital. Selected for her poignant portrait in oil and pencil. The judges were moved by the depth of sensibility displayed in this work, stirring profound emotion.
Second Prize: Polly Townsend – Ice, Antarctica. Selected for her poignant reminder that prompts the reflection on the fragile beauty of the Antarctic landscape juxtaposed against the stark reality of its melting ice cap and the environmental crisis our world faces.
Young Artist First Prize: George Metu-Onyeka – Untitled. Selected for his striking self-portrait, the variety of mark making and overall narrative of the image.
Young Artist Second Prize: Bethan Harris – Low Branches. Selected for her skillful use of colour, radiating exciting energy and being immersed in the landscape.
New Artist Award: Melissa Ling – Submission. Selected for her bold choice of colour, using one colour throughout the whole artwork and valuing the impressive scale of artwork in real life.
The private view event was a very successful evening, with attendance of curators, educators, press, artists and retailers, celebrating all styles of art and the incredible talent of the artists and artworks that were on display.
The exhibition ran from April 4 – 14 and welcomed public entry for free with daily artist demonstrations every afternoon. We were also very pleased to welcome several patients benefitting the amazing work of Spread a Smile, a charity close to Derwent, on the 14 April for an afternoon at the exhibition including a workshop with Derwent Artist Ambassador, Curtis Holder.
‘This year’s Derwent Art Prize has been a huge success and we are so pleased to have seen such an incredible outpouring of creativity from artists across the globe. The engagement and excitement on social media for the artists, art and exhibition has been fantastic. We are very excited to build relationships with many of the artists who entered, especially the winners who stood out from 6,000 entries and were chosen by our prestigious judging panel. We will now turn our attention to planning the 2026 Derwent Art Prize and continue to maximise the awareness and momentum created for this year’s prize.’
Martina Alexander, Senior Marketing Manager Derwent.
