NTD concluded its 6th International Figure Painting Competition with an award ceremony at the Salmagundi Club in New York on Jan. 18.
A total of 60 entries from 20 countries around the world were selected for the final exhibition.
After a review from the judges, there was no Gold Award given out this year, but three Silver Awards and five Bronze Awards were handed out.
Silver Award-Winning Entry
The triptych “The Infinite Grace of Buddha” was created by three artists from Japan and Taiwan, and won the highest prize of this year’s competition, the Silver Award. The work demonstrated themes of contemporary mythological scenes.
“The biggest challenge is that these paintings are very large,” said Silver Award winner, Shao-Han Tsai. “And then there are also many characters. At the beginning of the design process—in order to put all three paintings together as one—we had to put a lot of effort into the planning. Each of us probably has at least 20 to 30 sketches for each of our works.”
A piece painted by Shi-Ju Chiang from Taiwan, titled “Choosing Conscience Amid Political Unrest,” won the Profound Humanities award. 6 artists also took home the Outstanding Technique award, 2 artists won the Outstanding Youth awards, and there were 35 Honorable Mentions.
Innocence, Purity, and Beauty
As one of the top figure painting competitions in the world, the traditional artwork promotes the concepts of innocence, purity, and beauty.
“This competition is really unique in that it places an emphasis on really [promoting] classical aesthetics and ideals of truth and beauty,” said Ken Goshen, who received an Honorable Mention.
The judges encouraged the contestants to continue to sharpen their skills while staying true to ideas and themes that will promote the return of tradition and inspire the minds of future generations.
“I’m really grateful that there’s a wonderful competition that NTD puts on that we can all get together and view and enjoy one another’s work, and it’s always worth it to come and it’s fantastic,” said Bronze Award winner John Darley.
An album of this year’s paintings will be released after the exhibit is over. The more than 60 finalists’ paintings were on display and open to the public, free of charge, at the Salmagundi club in Manhattan until Friday evening.
Full List of Winners
Gold Award
Vacant
Silver Award
Triptych: “The Infinite Grace of Buddha” by (L) Hung-Yu Chen (Taiwan), (C) Yuan Li (Japan), and (R) Shao-Han Tsai (Taiwan)
Bronze Award
“Bath Time” by Clodoaldo Geovani Martins (Brazil)
“Vivian” by John Darley (USA)
“The Revival” by Tien-Ching Wu
“Jenna’s Joy” by Adam Clague (USA)
“Origin” by Pablo Josué Roque Almanza (Peru)
Outstanding Technique
“Alexandra” by Sandra Kuck (USA)
“A Self Portrait With a Pearl Earring” by Alessandra Marrucchi (Italy)
“Revelation” by Lauren Tilden (USA)
“Worries (Self-Portrait)” by Phillippe Lhuillier (France)
“Flying Apsaras in the Golden Age” by Hao Zeng
“Thom” by Nard Kwast (The Netherlands)
Outstanding Youth
“Merciful Encouragement” by Yu Hsuan Lin (Taiwan)
“Tiananmen Square After the Rain” by Jui-Hsiang Shao (Taiwan)
Profound Humanities
“Choosing Conscience Amid Political Unrest” by Shi-Ju Chiang (Taiwan)
