Meath youngster shortlisted for portrait prize

A talented 15 year old Meath student has been shortlisted for a prestigious art award.

Seán Lynch has been shortlisted for the Zurich Young Portrait Prize 2020 at the National Gallery of Ireland, for his painting 'Ukki'.

Selected from more than one thousand entries, Sean is one of 20 young artists aged between three and eighteen years old who have been shortlisted for the Zurich Young Portrait Prize.

The shortlists of both the 2020 Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize were announced yesterday by the National Gallery of Ireland. 26 artists, working across a variety of different media, have made it through to the final stage of the Zurich Portrait Prize.

The Zurich Young Portrait Prize accepted entries from young people up to the age of 18 from across the island of Ireland. Five winners (one from each age category, and an overall winner) will be chosen. Winners will receive a bespoke art box and a cash prize. This year’s Zurich Young Portrait Prize judges are Maria Cagney, Head of Education, The Hunt Museum; artist Colin Davidson; and illustrator, author and comedian Aoife Dooley.

The winner of the Zurich Portrait Prize will receive a prize of €15,000 and a commission worth €5,000 to create a new work for inclusion in the National Portrait Collection at the National Gallery of Ireland. There will also be two awards of €1,500 for highly commended works. Judges for this year’s Zurich Portrait Prize are Dr Philip Cottrell, lecturer and assistant professor at the School of Art History and Cultural Policy, UCD; artist Rita Duffy; and Aoife Ruane, Director of Highlanes Gallery.

An exhibition of works shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize will open at the National Gallery of Ireland on 21 November 2020. Following the success of the run of last year’s exhibitions at Crawford Art Gallery, the Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize will travel to Cork once again in April 2021.