Old Holland Painting of the Year 2020: meet the final four!
These are the final four artists of our ‘Old Holland Painting of the Year contest’.
"Portrait of a pig Freddy" by Michael Corner, Canada
Artwork: Portrait of a pig Freddy
Artist: Michael Corner, Canada
Colours: Turquoise Blue Deep, Emerald Green, Naples Yellow, Magenta, Indian Yellow-Brown Lake
What is the story behind your painting?
This is a painting of a pig I met this past summer named Freddy. He is a resident of The Alice Sanctuary, an animal rescue farm. Freddy carried himself with a quiet dignity that I hae done my best to do justice to. The hours I spent with Freddy were the happiest hours of my summer.
"Hope" by Ruto, Brazil
Artwork: Hope
Artist: Ruto (Régis Souto), 33 years old, Brazil
Colours: I’ve used Burnt Umber for underpainting and dark areas, also Gold Ochre for the gold crown.
What is the story behind your painting?
“Hope” was painted on the last day of 2020, I wanted to express everything that I would like to change last year, all the dreams we could not realize. I felt somehow gilt for living the stillness we are facing. I guess we all fell a bit that way… I notice that I couldn’t change anything about it, 2020 was out of my control, or anyone’s control, that’s when I figured that the only feeling I was not guilted to have was HOPE. And, what could be the best visual identification for hope than not a mother? Mothers always have hope for their children, always take care of them, we worship our mothers and look for them anytime we are in trouble or doubts in life, always with our hearts filled with faith and hope.
"Contamination" by Vlad Yashin, Russia
Artwork: Contamination
Artist: Vlad Yashin, 21 years old, Russia
Colours: Titanium White, Yellow Light, Naples Yellow Reddish Extra, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre, Brilliant Pink, Madder Lake Deep Extra, Ivory Black. I also used few colours from other brand for the background.
What is the story behind your painting?
This painting is a second piece in “Contamination” triptych that overall symbolises dark humanity. In the first picture male figure starts being possessed with black liquid material that get his right eye. Second one, the one that was chosen for this contest – the darkness takes over fully, both eyes are black. Black liquid material is slowly taking over the body but there’s still some good left there. And the last painting is fully black, made of plastic toy solders with deep Ivory Balck Old Holland oil paint. No peace. No color. Just plastic, war & human.
"Self Portrait in the Studio" by Nathaniel Flanagan, USA
Artwork: Self Portrait in the Studio
Artist: Nathaniel Flanagan, 27 years old, USA
Colours: I used Italian Earth (one of my favorite colors), Cremnitz White, Burnt umber, Cad Yellow Medium, Cad Red Medium and Cerulean Blue.
What is the story behind your painting?
The story behind the painting is that while in quarantine, I’ve spent a lot of time in my studio and I decided to bring a mirror in and paint myself in my studio. It seemed like the perfect time since everyone was inside from the virus!
